


Warming Up to You

by youreyesonlarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Louis, Brat Louis, Dom/sub Undertones, Louis has a small dick, Louis in Panties, Louis wants to be a travel blogger, M/M, PERIODT, Photographer Harry, Rimming, Shower Sex, Size Difference, Strangers to Lovers, Stuck in a cabin au, Top Harry, Writer Louis Tomlinson, ish, side niam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 12:28:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 56,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21620218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youreyesonlarry/pseuds/youreyesonlarry
Summary: “I feel you,” Harry nods along as he zips his bag open, carefully pulling out his fancy looking camera before pressing a button to turn it on. “I love taking pictures for a number of reasons, but I think the best part of the whole thing is that I’m able to go through my older pictures and have all these memories from those moments come back to me.”He puts the camera against his eye and points at Louis, and before the shorter one can even react, he hears a ‘click’, and Harry’s smiling down at the screen of his camera.“And I don't think I want to forget about the day I got stranded in a cabin with a pretty stranger,” he finishes off.----Prompt 111: Louis and Harry are strangers that somehow got stranded during a blizzard. They find themselves in an abandoned cabin and have to cuddle for warmth. Cuddling leads to much more.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson/Original Male Character(s), Niall Horan/Liam Payne
Comments: 69
Kudos: 516
Collections: Bottom Louis Fic Fest 2019





	Warming Up to You

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! This is my first time participating in a fic fest and it's been a fun ride to be a part of it! 
> 
> Special thanks to Sam (@bottomlouiis on twitter), my wonderful beta for helping me through this journey. I couldn't have done it without her! Love you so much!
> 
> Also a huge shout out to the mods for creating a wonderful, and much needed, fic fest!

“Bullshit,” Louis mutters to himself as he goes through every single channel Niall and Liams’ TV has to offer. “Absolute bullshit.”

He ends up settling down with old reruns of The Great British Bake-Off, which was usually something he liked to entertain himself with, but it was bread week, and Louis had already seen this episode one too many times to even pretend to be remotely interested by it. Unfortunately for him, it was either watching Mary Berry judge a loaf of bread with raisins and cinnamon in it (_who even likes raisins in bread? Or in anything at all, really_) or staring at the ceiling to refrain from secretly stalking his boyf-ex boyfriend’s instagram and any other sort of social media he had, like he’d been doing so the past week. 

Niall had already confiscated his phone after catching him doing it the other night, and Liam wouldn’t budge into giving it back to him, not even when Louis made the once in a lifetime opportunity to quit teasing him for an unlimited period of time (he even reluctantly let Liam determine how long it’d be), however, much to Louis’ distaste, his best mate was adamant about keeping out of Niall’s discipline tactics to help Louis move on from his shitty ex.

“Listen, Louis,” He’d said, “You know we love you, and you know we’re doing this because we care about you and we don’t want to see you upset, but the last thing I want is to get on Niall’s bad side because of you acting like a brat. You’ve taken the couch already and we both know he’d make me sleep on the floor.” 

Louis had responded by throwing his pillow right on Liam’s face, which really was the only appropriate way to reply. He clearly had it coming, anyway.

So now that Louis didn’t have access to see how well his ex was off without him, he spent his days pretty much throwing himself a pity party filled with ice cream, every type of tv show, including the dumb reality tv ones, and the occasional bottle of wine if he needed to calm himself down. The low buzz always got out the opposite reaction Louis had hoped for, and a lot of the times he downed two glasses, he’d end up cuddled between his best mates, crying and wondering what went wrong in his relationship with Keegan in the first place as Liam and Niall attempted into comforting him, reminding him that he was better off without that prick anyways.

Well, it was a pretty obvious answer, actually. 

Keegan’s a few years older than Louis, having met at a random Uni party and instantly feeling a connection with each other. At first, Louis never really thought their age difference would be an issue. He’s only four years older than him, anyways. Not enough for any drastic differences in the things they had in common and their level of maturity. Louis figured he was a little more immature than his boyfriend, but Keegan had loved him and his antics from the start. He was always happy to join Louis on his impulsive nights out, fun little dates, and it drove him wild whenever Louis would act like a brat, in a good way, of course. That’s how Louis was, too. Always on the lookout to have some fun. He was literally unable to stay still for more than two seconds, and it was this adventurous and energetic side that made Keegan so interested in him in the first place.

It was a pretty normal relationship, in all honesty. They were both happy with each other and their instant connection grew into something stronger, not another one night stand or short lived fling. It turned into a _ real _relationship.

Even when Keegan eventually graduated, their relationship still went like it always had, despite the obvious changes in their lives. What helped to keep it so strong and lasting was having Louis move into Keegan’s flat. The option came up when they quickly realized how Keegans’ new job took up a lot of his free time, time he’d usually spend with Louis and his own friends. Louis had uni to worry about too, which made it harder for them to see each other often, so the decision to move in together seemed like the most obvious thing to do. Neither of them were hesitant about the idea, and in less than a week, Louis was already fully moved in with his boyfriend at the time.

And at first, things had been going fine. Great, even, and it was no surprise to anyone, really. The pair had already proven to be a rather strong couple, and any fights they had hardly lasted longer than a few days. 

However, things started to change when Keegan began coming home late from his day at work. It was gradual and hardly noticeable when it started, Louis didn’t pay much mind to it considering it only happened once or twice a week, but it became a much bigger problem when Keegan would arrive by the time Louis would already be in bed. It worried Louis, how much his boyfriend was overworking himself and becoming constantly stressed out about money, since they were basically living off of Keegans’ paycheck and Louis’ random jobs that could hardly even help to pitch in with their groceries.

Money was important, sure, but Louis went from being worried about his boyfriend to being frustrated, because it was as if Keegan was putting his job as his only priority without even bothering to spend time with his own boyfriend. It seemed petty and selfish to want to be the center of Keegans’ attention, but it made no sense when he’d ditch time with Louis to go out for drinks with his friends. Louis was growing sick and tired of planning fun dates, things he knew Keegan would enjoy, only to end up having to cancel them and staying home watching movies by himself while his boyfriend was out doing whatever he pleased. This alone was reason enough to start up a lot of arguments between them, and hardly any ended on a good note. 

Louis couldn’t be blamed; he was only twenty-four years old, and obviously he’d want to enjoy his youth while he could and have fun with whoever he wanted, but mostly with his friends, and it was hard to even have an exciting night out with his best mates when his mind would drift off to his boyfriend and whatever argument they’d be having every two fucking minutes. At one point, Louis was convinced that’s why Keegan stayed longer in the office, and he hated how often he thought about how it was better to have him come home later, just to avoid the stupid fighting that would always end up happening.

All he truly wanted was to go back to the times where his relationship was perfect, but every day it became more of a fantasy, a figment of his imagination, than something that could ever happen in this lifetime. 

This went on even after Louis graduated and managed to get a stable job that would help him be less reliant on his boyfriend, even if the pay wasn’t much compared to his. Unfortunately, Keegan wasn’t any less stressed out than Louis thought he’d be, and the fights never really ceased.

Their sex life hadn’t been so great, either. 

Not only did it happen less often than Louis would’ve liked and been used to, he also wasn’t sure if it was better to not have any sex at all, since it started to be routine after any arguments they had. What once was impromptu love making, filled with passion and adoration for each other, that resulted in a very sore and satisfied Louis, was now their easiest way to de-stress and let their frustrations out against each other, only for the cycle to repeat over and over again.

Keegan mostly fucked Louis on all fours, since it was better for both to not look at each other. They’d just get frustrated all over again, so they’d fuck and as soon as Keegan pulled out of Louis’ spent hole, they’d fall asleep away from each other. Cuddling after sex hardly even happened anymore, and the only time they’d ever seemed to be in each other’s embrace would be in the rare ocassions when they’d be out with their friends. The thought of how forced it felt crossed Louis’ mind every time it had happened, but all he could do was slap a smile on his face and pretend that they didn’t have a stupid fight before leaving their flat.

Louis always considered himself to be a rather confident person, and it showed in his very loud personality. However, there was one thing about him that, for a while, he was quite insecure about. Louis has a small dick. It was no bigger than 3 inches, and it was something that took a while to accept. None of his past boyfriends or sexual partners had any problem with it; some would even call it cute. Besides, if they did have any problem, Louis would have the confidence to tell them to fuck off. Keegan seemed to be the exact opposite.

He never _blatantly _set out to make Louis feel bad about his lack of size, but he’d sometimes joke around about it for no reason, be it in bed or during the most random moments when they’d be together. It was just a little banter, or so Keegan shrugged it off as, but all that confidence and sense of normality Louis had gained over the years dwindled down into that gut wrenching feeling of embarrassment over something he literally had no control over, and there was always a cloud of shame hanging over him every time he thought about it.

That’s how it was, and it was probably something Louis’ should’ve seen as a red flag, but he didn’t. Their relationship kept dragging on this way, and it went on for another year, until Keegan couldn’t deal with it anymore.

It all went down until one day when Louis was coming back home from his job, and the minute he stepped into the now dreaded flat, he was bombarded with Keegan yelling at him about whatever petty little thing that, in retrospect, didn’t really matter at all. The pair fell into a rampage of yelling and pointing fingers at each other that lasted for hours, until Keegan finally had enough.

Keegan was the one who broke up with Louis, which _really_ did Louis’ head in to no end since the downfall of their relationship wasn’t caused by him. It was all Keegan. And he had the nerve, the audacity, to call Louis an ungrateful brat and a nuisance, and ended the argument by kicking him out of his flat with a pre-packed bag of a few of Louis’ clothes. 

Without any other choice, and honestly a bit dumbstruck, Louis forcefully grabbed the old gym bag, stormed out of the flat without another word, and bee-lined straight to Liam and Niall’s flat, with tears running down his face. Thankfully, his friends were quick to offer him their couch and emotional support for as long as he needed to with no hesitation whatsoever, and smothered Louis with as much cuddles and comfort food he could handle. He’s never been more thankful to have friends like those two.

Louis’ fingers pick at the loose threads of the warm blanket he’s taken over, as well as the couch that was already dented with Louis’ bum shape over how much time he spends on it. He watches as Mary Berry picks apart an honestly stale looking piece of bread to judge it until the commercials roll in, and Louis feels like his brain is going to explode if he has to see the same three ads play on loop. He has them completely memorized by now, word for word, and that really annoys him.

He lets his head fall back in a groan. He looks over at the open kitchen space where he immediately spots a bottle of wine on the counter. He isn’t particularly having a bad day, like the last weekend he spent all day pretty much crying, but he definitely felt like a glass would be nice. It’d help him deal with the stupid ads and the damn bread week, that’s for sure. 

Pushing the blanket off his legs, he gets up from the couch and goes over to the kitchen to find himself a clean wine glass, pouring himself a pretty generous amount until it’s close to reaching the brim. Louis brings the cup against his lips, humming as he swallows down the sweetness of the Rosé while walking back to the couch. 

Thankfully, the stupid commercials are over, and the show he was watching is back on, which was _so_ much more tolerable, especially with his warm blanket and the sweetness of his wine. He ends up like this, taking sips all afternoon in the comfort of the couch while watching a string of reruns, until Niall finally comes back home from his shift to bring Louis another, and way better, source of entertainment.

“Hey, Lou,” Niall greets after closing the front door behind himself. Louis sits up a little straighter in anticipation, and watches as Niall toes his uncomfortable work shoes off and unbuttons the top button of his shirt before languidly dropping himself on the couch right next to Louis, sighing in relief of finally getting the chance to sit down and catch a break. “God, it feels good to be home.”

“Tough day at work?” Louis asks before taking a small sip of his wine. He already knew the answer to that; Niall would always complain about how horrible his boss was, even on his first day. He claimed it had actually been the worst day of them all, and the only reason he wouldn’t quit was because of how good this looks on his resume and he couldn’t exactly complain about the paycheck he received at the beginning of the month.

The Irish lad predictably groans. “You have no idea, Lou. I swear I don’t get paid enough to deal with Greg’s bullshit all day long.”

“He doesn’t deserve you,” Louis assures him while comfortingly petting his best mates hair. “You should spit in his coffee, or maybe change the password on his phone and blame it on the intern.”

Niall snorts. “I’ll think about it on Monday,” He was quick to dismiss, obviously not wanting to think about work anymore, even if it was about the overdue revenge he wanted to get against his stupid boss. “How are you feeling today? Better than yesterday?”

The devious smile on Louis’ face drops to an uncomfortable frown. His stomach warms with emptiness and embarrassment, and it’s all due the hopeful look on Niall’s face as he looks over his best friend. 

Louis bites his cheek and averts his eyes at the question, uncomfortably shifting in his seat to give himself a few more seconds to avoid giving an answer. He feels a tad embarrassed that so much has changed, and the initial anger and resentment against Keegan turned into acceptance that they were truly over, which then led to sadness. He still feels anger against him, but now it was ridiculously obvious how he still felt pretty much heartbroken, even though his ex was a proper twat in the first place. Louis really loved him at some point, and he hates how he still can’t pull himself out of this self deprecating cycle of not feeling good enough, and get over him for once. It isn’t a nice feeling at all. 

So he shrugs and fixes his gaze onto the TV, which was back again with those god awful repetitive ads that send Louis’ mind spiraling into a headache.

“Still hangin’ in there,” He eventually mumbles, fingers mindlessly pulling some loose threads on the blanket covering him. “The Rosé’s been helping a bit.”

Niall rolls his eyes and plucks the half empty glass from Louis’ grip, eliciting a whine from the younger one, and took a long sip for himself. He definitely needs it after dealing with his cranky boss all day.

“Have you really been sitting here all day, drinking and watching shit telly?” Niall raises an eyebrow, reluctantly giving Louis back his glass, since he won’t stop looking at it with the saddest puppy eyed look he could pull while making grabby hands at it.

Louis’ cheeks tint a shade of pink, giving all the answers Niall needs.

“Give me a break,” Louis grumbles, “I’m suffering from a broken heart, Niall. I figured you’d be more understanding.”

The Irish lad sighs and drops whatever fight started between them, deciding that it really isn’t worth it to argue with his best mate when he’s clearly feeling vulnerable and in a rough state of mind. 

Niall was never really crazy about Keegan in the first place, if he was being honest. Sure, he was fun to hang around with for a while, and he knew his way around the best clubs in the area, but there was always a side to him Niall wasn’t fond over, one that kept him guarded about the older lad. Keegan had somewhat of a jealous trait, and it wasn’t rare to see him make Louis feel like shit just because he liked to have fun. Of course, Louis had been too drunk in love to really see how controlling his ex could get, not to mention manipulative too, and Niall smartly refrained from throwing a party after Louis vented about how they had broken up and needed a place to stay.

Instead of giving Louis more shit about moping around all day, Niall pulls Louis into his side and cuddles his best mate until the latter stops whining about almost spilling his precious wine and how he could ‘_barely even breathe_’. It didn’t take that long, either way, and soon Louis nuzzles his head into Niall’s neck, embracing the affection he’s been craving and lacking all this time since his breakup. Niall smiles, and sneakily reaches out for Louis’ wine glass and takes it for himself, downing whatever amount was left. 

He deserved it.

\--

Half an hour later, the pair are still mindlessly cuddling and making the occasional jab at whatever show they’re watching, when they hear Liam’s keys in the keyhole. 

“Babe?” He calls out when he walks inside, throwing his keys into the bowl next to the front door. “Louis?”

Liam walks in on the scene of his boyfriend and long time best mate cuddling on the couch as he shrugs his blazer off his shoulders. It would be a lie to say that it’s the first time it’s happened, and it doesn’t really faze him anymore. It never did, actually. The pair were always awfully too affectionate, and that's how they show each other the love and support they have for each other. Liam thinks it’s pretty adorable, which always gets him a pillow thrown to some part of his body; obviously by Louis. 

“Hey baby,” He smiles, leaning over to peck Niall’s lips while loosening his tie at the same time. “What’s going on here?”

“We’re having a moment here, Liam,” Niall pets Louis’ hair, who doesn’t seem to mind it whatsoever. His soft purr like little sounds were proof of that enough.

“Great.” Liam lets his tie fall off to the floor - which he knows Niall is going to complain about later, and loosens the top buttons of his pristine white shirt. “Move your big bum over, Lou, I want in.”

The cuddling pair groaned at the heavy thud of Liam’s pure muscled body dropping onto the couch and the tight squeeze they got after. His friends’ support was exactly what Louis needs right now, and he can’t help but to slip in a smile to himself, grateful that he has a great support system no matter what. 

  
\--

  
“So, Karen asked about you today,” Liam idly mentions as the three of them eat dinner. “She wondered if you were feeling any better, if you weren’t under the weather anymore.”

Louis rolls his eyes. Of course his boss wouldn’t get off his ass. The audacity.

“Well, you can tell her I’m still feeling sick,” Louis mutters, eyes trained on his chicken cutlet he was sliding his knife at it. “Maybe add a little special something and tell her I’ve been vomiting every now and then, that I can barely fall asleep at night. That could explain the bags under your eyes, Li.”

Liam hardly even flinches at the snide little comment. He’s already used to his best mate’s sarcastic and rather bratty self from being friends since their diaper days, but he still lets out an unimpressed look that at least got a chuckle out of him. It’s better to see Louis laugh than to see him put himself down all day, he decides.

Oblivious to Louis’ gaze, Liam and Niall share a careful look with each other, one that doesn’t need a single word to understand the meaning of. Niall motions his head to Louis while raising his brows, a sign Liam took as him being the one insisting on the subject they’ve been secretly talking to each other about for a few days now. He knew this wasn’t going to end well; he had enough experience to last a lifetime to know that a vulnerable Louis could be quite unpredictable. Even knowing that Louis won’t be so harsh on Niall, the latter figures it was better if Liam spoke to him first.

“Lou…” Liam hesitantly starts, painfully aware of how Louis’ reaction could go sour in a matter of seconds, “Don’t you think going back to work will help you take your mind off Keegan? I mean, it’d probably help you move on more than-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Louis warns, missing Niall’s sigh from the other side of the table. “You know exactly how bad of an idea that is. I could barely even focus last time I pulled that shit! Karen was this close to firing me.”

To accentuate his statement, Louis pretty much shoves his hand an inch away from Liam’s eyes, index finger and thumb barely touching one another. He got his point across, which ultimately is all he wanted, and Liam sighs in resignation.

It’s not like going back to work was the worst idea Liam’s ever had, not by a long shot. It’s terrible now, though, because Louis _did_ try to go back to work a few days after his shitty breakup. He figured it’d be the wonderful distraction he desperately needed, considering how swamped and busy he could get on a normal 9 to 5 day, and his best mates were more than happy to support his decision. After all, it did hurt them to see Louis hurting that way, and anything that could offer him a distraction was more than well received.

So he went into work the next day. Liam happily drove them to the office, spending the entire drive trying to cheer Louis up and get him excited for the day ahead of them. Obviously Louis couldn’t even successfully manage to fake a smile for the sake of his best mate, but being in the car for work was already a good enough start.

They all should’ve known it wouldn’t be as easy as it initially sounded.

Louis’ job consisted in writing articles and pieces about anything relevant for a gossip magazine. There were meetings involved and frustrating group discussions way before Louis would even start typing anything, not to mention a hefty amount of background investigation to make sure the sources weren’t fucking about their claims. All in all, it was a huge headache but it was one that usually did a pretty good job of occupying his mind and forgetting about his own personal life for a quick second. So it really was a no brainer that Louis’d go back after a couple of days worth of a pity party at home.

Unfortunately, this job asked for a lot of focus on his end, and that was one thing that Louis was seriously lacking.

He barely even listened to whatever Karen was saying during the first morning meeting, and felt completely lost in his group when they were going through ideas for their final pieces. They were meant to write articles about whichever celebrities Karen previously mentioned in the meeting. Louis ended up covering an overly dramatic report on the Kardashians and it was imperative they all work on it as soon as they could to get ready for press day, because being the first ones to publish a new story was always a good thing. Money wise, at least.

Louis got to work, but his mindset was completely all over the place. He was making rookie mistakes, and single handedly made his and his groups’ job harder, which provoked plenty of snide comments from them to last a lifetime. Usually, he’d stick up for himself. He’s not a rug to be walked over, but he just felt so guilty for wasting everyone’s time, that accepting his failure without a fight was easier. He just ignored the rude remarks and tried to not let them get under his skin.

Liam even went out of his way to check on his best mate throughout the day, and it’d be the same thing every time; Louis looking incredibly distressed and ready to rip his hair out of his head. No amount of coffee breaks seemed to help him settle down to _at least_ concentrate on his work. Still, he offered to comfort Louis as much as he needed to and Louis wasn’t too proud to indulge in his best mates warm hugs. They felt nice and made his job bearable for about five minutes until he was back to his dejected self.

Clearly, Louis was having a _really_ rough day, and not even a stop in his favorite ice cream shop during lunch time helped him get out of his funk. The worst part had to be when he finally finished his article and sent it straight to Karen, releasing a sigh of relief. He still had a few other things to do, but he found himself heading to the kitchen area for yet another tea, only to come back to a very disappointed email from his boss. To put it nicely, Karen thought his piece in particular needed to be thrown in the trash where it belonged and get re-done, and that he should probably leave early and go home for some much needed rest.

Louis felt absolutely mortified and embarrassed as he read over the email countless times, just to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. He didn’t even like Karen that much, but he’s never once got anything less than praise for his writing. He knew he was good at what he did. Even if writing about Kim Kardashian's struggle to lose her baby weight wasn’t exactly his one true passion in life, he still did a damn good job at selling a story, and it felt like everything bad that happened that day came crashing down on him.

Dumbfounded and feeling as miserable as ever, he quickly shot Liam a text, saying he needed to go home and eventually found himself back at the same spot on the couch, bag of chips in hand and crying to himself with reruns of Doctor Who playing in the background.

“Fine,” Liam drops it faster than he thought he would. “If you’re sure it won’t work, then I won’t press you about it anymore, but you can’t not show up next week, Lou. Karen’s seriously worried about you, like it or not.”

Louis isn’t necessarily planning on ditching work completely, not by a long shot. It’s good pay, afterall, and he isn’t about to take it for granted. He figures he just needs a few days off to get his mind sorted, at least enough to keep him sane before going back to that busy environment. But having his own best mate telling him what to do didn’t quite sit right with the younger one.

“Well what if I don't?” Louis angrily spits out, dropping his utensils carelessly on top of his half eaten dish. Liam and Niall flinch at his outburst, clearly not expecting it. “I don’t know how I’ll be feeling next week, who knows, maybe I’ll feel even worse! Do you really think it’s a good idea for me to go to work when this is the worst I’ve ever felt?! I can barely even enjoy Bake-Off, Liam, _the_ Bake-Off.”

Liam already regrets opening his mouth in the first place, even for the sake of potentially giving his best mate some advice that he knew worked by experience, but he should’ve known that Louis could get quite stubborn when he wanted to. An emotionally distraught Louis really isn’t one to piss off.

“Louis, you-”

“No,” Louis is quick to interrupt Niall, who decides to take the reigns Liam clearly dropped too soon. He can’t blame his boyfriend, really. Liam is a softie at heart, and never wanted to make his best mate, or anyone really, upset. “I don’t want to hear it anymore. If I want to stay home and cry all day because of how upset I am to have been broken up with, then I fucking will. I know I have responsibilities and you should know by now that I’m doing my best to get better! And Karen can fuck right off!”

The tension is thick in the air, and Louis isn’t having any second of it. He rolls his eyes and leaves the table, storming straight to the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. He doesn’t even care that he left a half eaten plate of Liam’s famous chicken and pasta; his appetite is completely lost and all he wants to do is let off some steam by taking a boiling hot shower, since the pair doesn’t have a bathtub. He grumbles to himself as he strips off of his baggy t-shirt and sweatpants and barely even flinches with how cold the water is as soon as it hits his body. 

Meanwhile, Liam and Niall aren’t too surprised about Louis’ outburst. In a way, they were already expecting him to blow up, which is honestly better than seeing him so sad and mopey all the time. They avert their eyes from each other, up until they hear the bathroom door slam louder than they’ve heard before. They look up and share a careful, worried look with each other.

“I think we should tell him,” Niall says, and Liam can only nod in agreement. 

  
\---

  
When Louis is done with his shower, he feels much more calm and relaxed than when he first stepped inside the bathroom. He’s left with a sinking feeling in his stomach, one easily described as guilt, for letting his emotions get the best of him when his best friends were just looking out for him. He lashed out on them, which he deeply regrets, and now he has his heart set on apologizing to them for his dumb behavior.

After throwing his t-shirt back on and taking a second to brush his fingers through his fringe, Louis opens the bathroom door and is immediately swarmed with the sound coming from their TV, along with the couple’s laughs, reminding him of how he acted. There was no point in running away from this problem. Even if Louis did, he’d have a real hard time doing so, since there’s not many places to hide himself in. He’s been sleeping on their goddamn couch, for fucks sake.

Louis gently closes the bathroom door behind him, and feels his stomach bubble with nerves the closer he walks to the living room. When the happily cuddling couple on the couch came to sight, Louis has half a mind to turn around and pretend nothing happened, but he can’t avoid them, especially when he was the one lashing out, so he stands below the door frame and clears his throat to get the pairs attention.

They turn their heads at the same time, looking over at their nervous looking friend. Niall and Liam don’t look half as hurt, or even angry, like Louis had been expecting. Instead, they look like they’re concerned about him, and that somehow makes him feel worse.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Louis quietly mumbles, fingers playing with the hem of his t-shirt. “I didn’t mean to blow up like that. I’m really sorry for being a twat. I understand it was very uncalled for, and I shouldn’t have acted like a stupid brat.”

Niall smiles softly and untangles himself from Liam, making space between them and patting his hand on the empty spot, silently asking Louis to sit down. A timid smile appears on Louis face as he practically skips over to the couch and gets himself comfortable between his best mates.

“It’s alright, Louis,” Niall says, “Let’s just watch some telly, yeah?”

\--

  
The following morning, Louis wakes up to the sound of his best mates quietly bickering from the kitchen. Of course, saying they were being quiet is very generous of Louis, considering Niall calling Liam a ‘proper twat’ was loud enough to spur him out of his dreamless sleep. 

He lazily rolled over on the limited space the couch had to offer, in a weak attempt to fall back to sleep. His eyes were shut and he lets out a quiet whine as he adjusts into a more comfortable position, which he was luckily able to do considering his petite frame even with an average sized couch. Unfortunately for Louis and his need to sleep for another three or ten hours, Nialls’ bickering with Liam was making it really hard to doze off again.

Louis gives up on trying to fall asleep, and turns back over so he won’t have to twist his entire body in a weird, and probably inhumane, angle just to reach his phone that had somehow made its way under the coffee table. He managed to retrieve his phone last night, still without knowing exactly where the pair hid it, much to his annoyance. He’ll have to think of another plan to get this information out of Liam. 

He figures he probably fell asleep with it in his hands, and must’ve dropped it during the night, ending up too far away from his reach. Louis refuses to leave the comfort of his sheets, though, so he stretches out his arm as much as he can to grab his phone, softly cursing about it under his breath along the way. After the short lived failed attempt, he grabs the remote control that was sprawled on the floor and used that to push his phone closer to him.

Louis succeeds, and he’d probably make a big deal about it if he hadn’t just woken up.

As he checks his phone, he sees that it’s way too early to be up on a Saturday, and is frankly unsurprised to see that he still doesn’t have a notification from Keegan. He has a few texts from his mum, but he’ll deal with those later after his morning cup of tea. 

His sleep-filled eyes squint at the screen as he scrolls through his social media, eyes lingering too long on a new post his favorite travel blog account posted to their instagram. The couple he’d admired since the start of their account was off somewhere in Bali, a place Louis knows he can’t afford just yet, but still deeply wishes on travelling to sometime in his life. 

After scrolling away from that post, he secretly expects to find a new post from his ex. He doesn’t, and Louis isn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. To the random outsider, it’s probably really sad (to refrain from using pathetic) how much Louis cares, even after the epiphany he had that Keegan wasn’t all that great in the first place. However, he was Louis’ first genuine and longest love, and it was so hard for Louis to suddenly stop all these feelings he had for him overnight. He’s trying, but it’s difficult, and he can’t help it. 

There’s no point in getting himself into another cycle of self deprecation that always ends up in tears and a massive headache, so Louis locks his phone and throws it somewhere under the coffee table before turning over and closing his eyes. 

He tries to ignore Nialls’ voice for two seconds as he soaks up the cozy feeling of being in bed, or his current version of one, before realizing he definitely can’t get back to sleep. He reluctantly pulls the sheets off his body and sluggishly gets up. A yawn slips out when he stretches his back as his feet lead him to the kitchen, where the couples’ squabbling can be heard clearer and clearer.

They immediately get quieter when Louis walks in, their loud bantering turning into hushed whispering to each other while hiding behind Liam’s laptop, scheming, or whatever the hell those two did on their Saturday mornings. 

“Morning,” Louis yawns as he grabs Liam’s favorite mug that, coincidentally, is also his favorite.

“Morning, Lou,” Liam says without taking their eyes off the screen in front of them. Louis can hear Niall typing something away and he isn’t quite sure if he wants to know what that was all about. Work things, probably. Hopefully. 

As Louis finishes making his tea and starts getting his toast ready, he notices a lack of whining coming from Liam about how Louis is always drinking from his best mug. He hardly even got a word out of him, actually. He figures the couple must be too busy this morning to pay attention to him, and Louis is glad they at least quieted down their bickering enough, so he can eat in peace without wanting to bash his head against a wall.

It’s a tad awkward to eat his breakfast in the same room as the squabbling couple, so he finishes off his toast in record time to avoid getting in the middle of whatever the hell they were going on about (Louis was quick to give up on eavesdropping and trying to connect the dots once he realized he wouldn’t figure out whatever the context was in this lifetime) and decides to finish off his tea in the living room. Hopefully, there’s something good on this morning.

Careful enough not to accidentally spill his tea all over the couch and the floor, Louis comfortably sits cross legged on the couch and leans over to grab the remote. He goes through the main channels in search of something remotely interesting until he settles on some cartoon he’s never seen before or even heard about, but seems entertaining enough to watch. 

He’s in the middle of watching that cartoon, one he was shamelessly getting into despite watching only half of an episode, when the TV is abruptly shut off and before he can even make up a reaction, his best mates are suddenly standing in front of it.

“He-ey,” Louis whines, “I was watching that.”

“Sorry, Lou,” Liam’s quick to apologize, sympathy clear on his face. Niall shoots his boyfriend a glare, and Liam immediately purses his lips as if he got caught doing something he shouldn’t, which seems to be the case right now.

Louis raises a brow, “What’s all this about? 

“Louis,” Niall starts, in a much more serious tone than usual, “You can’t keep doing this to yourself.”

“Doing what?” Louis furrows his brows and cradles the empty mug against his chest, “I’m just watching TV, I-”

Niall sits beside Louis, asking him to push his big bum aside to make some space as Liam takes a seat on the arm of the sofa. Both of them have an underlying worried look plastered on their faces, and it’s honestly making Louis slightly uncomfortable. This whole ambush, too. He just wants to watch some cartoons, not be suddenly thrown into a weird intervention.

“You know we love you, Louis,” Niall’s voice softens along with his features. He momentarily ditched the whole serious act he was pulling two seconds before, and Louis has to look away with how mildly uncomfortable he feels.

“Really, really, love you,” Liam adds his two cents.

Louis narrows his eyes in suspicion. 

The three of them are never really too proud of themselves to not go on about how much they love each other. The ‘i-love-you’s’ happen more often after a few drinks in their system, yet there’s hardly a day in which Louis won’t be told he’s loved. Even so, this reassurance right now is feeling vaguely weird and the thought of Louis’ friends tripping on acid certainly crosses his mind.

“And we both understand that you’re still hurting over Keegan, but we think that you spending your days watching telly and eating all our ice cream really isn’t the right solution to get over your break up,” Niall concludes, cautiously watching over Louis’ reaction to brace himself for the worst. 

A strong urge to roll his eyes washes over Louis, and he definitely isn’t shy about showing it, either. Of course they’re bringing up his stupid break up, and are probably about to go on a rant about how he should go back to work. Plus, the fucking ice cream? Really?

“You can’t seriously be lecturing me over my break up right now,” Louis scoffs, “I don’t even care about it anymore. Keegan can fuck right off, for all I care.”

Liam clears his throat, and Louis shoots him an unimpressed glare. “What now, Liam?”

“You’re wearing Keegan’s sweater, Lou…” Liam nervously points at his choice of clothing with one hand and scratches the back of his neck with the other, cowering away from Louis and mentally preparing himself for another pillow attack that was bound to happen. Thankfully for Liam, his comment seems to have struck a nerve in his best mate. Instead of opting for the easy option of wacking Liam with the nearest object he could find, he went with stubbornly crossing his arms and falling back on the couch with a pout.

“So what if I am?” He grumbles, defeated, “It’s comfy and big and everything else is in the wash, you know that.”

“It also still smells like him and-” Louis starts to open his mouth to retaliate against what Niall was implying, “Don’t give me that look, Lou, we’ve seen you take a whiff whenever you think we’re not looking.”

Louis frowns and lets out a stubborn whine.

“It’s so weird that both of you are stalking me,” His eyes flicker to his taller mate, “Even for you, Liam, and I’ve seen you eat instant ramen with ketchup, you weirdo.”

“Hey!” Liam’s cheeks redden in embarrassment. “It’s a perfectly normal thing to do, we’ve had this conversation, Lou.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, babe, promise,” Niall is quick to assure his pouting boyfriend. “But the point is,” Niall pulls Louis back into the matter at hand, neither of them missing the tint of red staining Liam’s cheeks and his awful attempt at trying to hide it by looking anywhere but Louis’ face, “My co-worker, Alice - you remember Alice, right? Red hair, big nose, really good at baking cupcakes - well she went through a pretty rough patch with her boyfriend so she found this lovely forest retreat and-”

Louis sighs loudly, “Why are you telling me about Alice? I don’t know her that well and she doesn’t like me anyways.”

“So, she found this retreat,” Niall blatantly ignores Louis’ petty whining. Truthful, but still petty. “And it really helped her mend her relationship with her boyfriend. She’s even engaged now!”

“Congratulations?” He quirks his brow and pushes himself off the couch, empty mug in hand. Liam shoots a panicked glance to Niall as Louis goes to the kitchen, worried that their plan went south faster than either of them were expecting. They were already counting on some reluctance on Louis’ side, for all the right reasons, but not before they could even get started.

“Louis!” Liam calls out for him to come back, but of course, the blue eyed one ignores the calling and continues on to the kitchen.

Obviously they can’t sit around and wait for Louis to come back, so they follow behind him and see him actually getting ready to do the dishes, which is definitely a pleasant surprise for the couple. It’s no secret Louis isn’t a big fan of chores. He always ends up doing them if he really has to, and he’s been pitching in more often than not now that he’s been living with his best mates, and now feels like it’s the least he should do, but it was still a sight Liam and Niall have to get used to.

The pair strategically stand on either side of him, barricading him as he, for the first time in a million years, washes the dirty dishes from this morning and last night. 

Louis turns his head both ways, glancing at his best mates with a raised brow and looking quite uncomfortable. “Right, you lot are really freaking me out right now. I do the dishes sometimes, there’s no need to linger around and watch. I get that you lot like to stalk me, but do you really have to when I’m doing the bloody dishes?”

“Alice told me the retreat really helped her focus on what was important. Said she came back completely refreshed and in a completely different mindset than when she first got there with her boyfriend,” Niall adds on, “Right, Liam?”

“Right,” Liam smiles. “She said the hiking really gave her the chance to think things over and have a serious talk to her boyfriend instead of avoiding their issues like they’ve been doing for a while.”

“Good for her,” Louis mindlessly hums, as he grabs another dirty dish for a wash.

“Well, you like hiking, don’t you?” Liam asks him, “And nature too?”

“Uh, sure, I suppose so,” Louis shut the water off and turns around, leaning on the counter and wiping his hands on his joggers. They’re going for a wash anyways. “What’s going on? You both are acting weird this morning. Weirder than usual, actually.”

The pair share a look and wiggle their brows at each other, in an indecipherable way that has Louis staring at them as if they’ve lost their minds, which at this point, he is more than convinced that was the case.

“There’s no need to beat around the bush, then.” Niall sighs. “Louis, we’re really concerned with you, and we really want you to get over that stupid prick. Liam and I have been talking and we think you might need some fresh air, y’know, get out of town for a few days.”

Louis scoffs, “You think going on some hikes out of town is gonna help me get over Keegan? S’not like I’m not already over the stupid bloke, already.”

“The sweater, Louis,” Liam points out.

“It’s just a fucking sweater!” Louis groans in frustration, “Who even cares about it?”

“We do,” Niall says. “And it’s because we care that we think you should go. It’s just a few days, I promise you’ll love it. You love travelling! Maybe you could even use this for your blog?"

“I don’t even have one, yet…” Louis bites his bottom lip and crosses his arms over his chest, suddenly feeling more vulnerable. “By myself?”

“We have work, Lou,” Liam says. “We have that big trip around Europe planned for the summer, and we can’t take any more days off. Besides, Karen said you could take another week off, if you needed to.”

Louis groans. “God, I can’t believe you even got Karen involved into this mess,” Louis rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. He can feel a headache coming, and no amount of sighing and rolling his eyes seem to be any help. “Fine then, what’s this all about, then?”

The pairs’ eyes widen in surprise. “You want to go?”

“I never said that,” Louis points out, raising his hands. “But I know neither of you will shut up about it until you tell me what this is all about, so let’s hear it. S’not like I had anything better to do today, anyways.”

“Great!” Niall grins, probably wider than what the situation calls for, but he doesn’t quite care at the moment. All he wants is to get his best mate back, whatever it takes. “Liam, go grab the laptop, open up the powerpoint, just like we talked about. Alright babe?”

Louis swears he hears Liam giggle to himself as he gets up to grab his laptop. Niall can barely hold his excitement as he goes on about how much Louis will love the retreat. He isn’t quite sure what to expect, but he’s sure it won’t be that bad if his best mates are raving about it. And Alice too, even if he doesn’t like her that much to care about her opinions.

He has to hand it to his friends, though. They’re really trying hard to help Louis, even if he doesn’t think he needs any, so the least he can do is sit through the bloody powerpoint and politely decline when it’s over so he can go back to eating ice cream and watching shit telly. He saw a new tub of his favorite Ben and Jerry’s and he’ll faint if he doesn’t have a bite of Caramel Chew Chew in the next hour.  
  
As Liam comes back to the living room with a stupid smile on his face and laptop in hand and ready to ‘blow Louis’ mind away’. Louis only sits back and thinks about what the hell he got himself into, and if it’s too late to run out the door.

After a surprisingly long powerpoint, Louis was ashamed to admit that he didn’t exactly hate the idea of going away from home for a few days and to this retreat.

He isn’t quite sure what made him change his mind, though. Maybe it was the fact that he’ll be surrounded by nature that gives him some sense of relief, or possibly it was the allegedly relaxing trails that were great to give him time to think that blew him away, or perhaps it was the way Niall and Liam were saying exactly the right things to sell this idea to Louis.

Niall was unfortunately cursed with a natural ability to sound pretty convincing when he wanted to. He should’ve been expecting this, since Niall was the main reason why Louis ended up in a club or an old pub most weekends. Sure, he never really rejected an invitation for a night out, but it was another thing when Niall counted for about ninety percent of the invitations. 

“Alright, alright,” Louis stops Niall halfway through his third rant about how Louis will benefit off this trip. “I’ll think about it.”

Liam lets out an embarrassingly high pitched squeal and Niall claps his hands while keeping a huge grin on his face.

“Will you really?” Niall hopefully asks, just to be sure.

Louis rolls his eyes, but he was unable to keep the smallest hint of a smile off his face. “Yes, Niall. I promise I will.”

“Alright then,” He grins at his accomplishment. “We’ve decided you’re allowed to eat our ice cream now, right Liam?”

Liam is clearly caught by surprise. Louis would’ve held back the giggles that escaped his throat, but it turns out he likes it when Liam looks ridiculously confused, and to not laugh at his face is a crime in itself. 

“Wait, we did? But I-”

It also helps that Caramel Chew Chew was Liam’s favorite and even if he didn’t like to admit it, he absolutely hated it when anyone at his food; especially his favorites. The ice cream was no exception, and he made a mental note to have Niall buy him as many pints of ice cream as he wanted. He owed him that much. 

Niall promptly shuts the laptop, gets up from the couch and grabs Liam’s forearm to pull him up.

“Don’t we have things to do today? Let’s go, honey, Louis has a lot to think about,” Niall says, eyeing Liam so he’d catch on and play along. Thankfully, it doesn’t take him long to follow his boyfriends lead, and suddenly acts as if the pair had a load of errands to sort out.

“We should get going soon, baby,” Liam went with Niall’s obvious lie; his acting skills definitely weren’t award worthy. “You’ll be alright by yourself for a bit, Lou, yeah? A few hours maybe?”

“I can look after myself,” Louis assures the odd pair. He doesn’t quite appreciate the doubtful look on Niall’s face. “I’ll be right here, _mum_, don’t worry about it.”

Still looking unsure, Niall has no other option but to carry out his blatant fib, which means leaving Louis by himself. It wasn’t anything new; Louis’ taken care of the flat by himself for ages now, and it’s been months since the last kitchen incident. He’s not exactly allowed to cook by himself anymore, at least not without Liam or Niall’s assistance.

“Call me if you need anything,” Niall bends down to slap a wet kiss on Louis’ forehead.

“We love you, Lou,” Liam reminds him again for the thousandth time today, yet Louis doesn’t quite seem to mind. “We’ll see you later. Make sure you think about this, yeah?”

“Yeah, I will.”

Happy with that answer, the pair leaves Louis to his own devices and get themselves ready to leave. Neither of them know exactly what they’ll be doing all day, but they’ll figure it out. With a final ‘see you soon’ at the door, the pair goes to the floor’s elevator and patiently wait for it to reach their floor.

“So,” Liam starts, “About the ice cream…”

Niall knew he had this coming. “I’ll buy you some more and blow you after, is that a deal?”

Liam doesn’t need much deliberation. He’d be a proper idiot for refusing such an alluring offer. “You know it’s a deal, babe!”

Niall chuckles at his boyfriends excitement, and leans in to peck his cheek at the same time the elevators doors open. Now all they have to worry about is where the hell they were off today, but that’s a problem that didn’t quite feel like one at all.

\--- 

“So, have you thought about it?” Is the first thing Niall says to Louis as soon as he plops down on the comfort of the couch, next to his younger friend. He notices the almost empty tub of ice cream sitting on the coffee table, but he doesn’t have to worry about Liam getting an aneurism if he sees it, since he’s already gotten halfway through their deal and bought him a few pints of the caramel ice cream to keep him happy.

Truth is, the retreat had been the only thing Louis has been thinking about all day long. He took advantage of how peaceful and quiet the flat was without his best mates to weigh in the pros and cons about this little trip, and it even dragged out to when he was tossing and turning in his makeshift bed during a typical mid-afternoon nap. 

He came up with the conclusion that there weren't many cons in the first place. The probability of coming across any sort of bug was pretty high, way higher than what Louis would be comfortable with, but the pros definitely outweighed this horrible encounter that always seemed to happen every time Louis went on a hike in nature. It’s like he’s a bug magnet, and that’s honestly his worst trait.

The bad signal and very low wifi bars were considered a con at first, but after much self-debating, Louis had come to the conclusion that maybe that wouldn’t be such a horrible thing. He probably wouldn’t be able to check his social media without using his data, and god knows how expensive his bill is; he doesn't need any more numbers adding up. He hopes he’ll have enough reception to at least be able to contact his friends in case anything happens to him; his mum would literally take him out of this world if he didn’t call her at some point in the trip.

“I have,” Louis coyly smiles, “And I think you’re right. I think it’s a good idea for me to go on the trip.”

Niall’s jaw slacks in surprise, and it’s almost comical how much his eyes widen and brows raise. It’s fair to say he was definitely caught by surprise. Louis was, too. It’s not like he’s desperate to go on this trip; there was still a part of him that thought it’d be pointless and a waste of his time, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. It was only a few days, after all.

“Liam!” Niall yells out, “Liam, come here!”

A vague noise of the toilet flushing could be heard from the living room, followed by the bathroom door opening and rushed footsteps until Liam stopped in front of the pair. He didn’t even have the decency to pull his fly up.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Louis said he’d go to the retreat!” Niall wraps an arm around Louis’ shoulder, pulling him into a nice side cuddle, grinning in excitement.

“You’ll go?!” Liam asks in disbelief, a small smile turning larger when Louis bashfully nods. Liam practically throws himself on the couch on the other side of Louis, wrapping his arms around him and his boyfriend and squeezing tightly.

“There’s n-no need to celebrate,” Louis struggles in the middle of his best mates cudde attack, feeling smothered and pushing against them so he could actually breathe properly. “Or at least try not to kill me in between.”

The couple releases their strong grip on their smaller friend, chuckling as Louis whines about how they messed up his precious hair.

“You look good no matter what, Lou,” Niall assures him with a nice pat on his back.

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis dismisses, running his fingers through his fringe in an attempt to fix it. “So, when am I leaving, then?”

It doesn’t take long for Niall to organize the whole booking process for Louis’ trip. He’s used to this; arranging flight tickets, leaving a reservation at exclusive hotel rooms and the fanciest of restaurants count for half the things Niall has to do at work for his demanding boss. He could do this with his eyes closed if he wanted to, Louis is sure. 

It’s a skill Louis never even considered as such, but when Niall successfully manages to prepare everything for his broken-hearted best mate in less than fifteen minutes, needless to say, Louis is impressed. It probably would’ve taken Louis over an hour to even search through different pricings, so he’s thankful for Niall and his surprising aptitude for making powerpoints and preparing trips.

A grin made its way onto Nialls’ face and he claps his hands in excitement as soon as everything is confirmed. Louis is in between watching his cartoons and watching Niall click away on Liams’ laptop with a million tabs open. He wisely made the decision to let him work his magic, because he was sure Niall had an inkling of what he was doing and what his best mate would like the most.

“All done?” Louis smiles timidly, eyes glancing down to an open email, confirming Louis’ bus tickets. He doesn’t mind this particular means of transport, or any at all, to get to the retreat. No doubt he’d be there faster by car, but he doesn’t have one despite having a driver's license stored in his wallet. A bus will do.

“Yep,” Niall smiles, “I just need to print these out and you’re all set!”

Louis hums, “And when am I leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Niall opens a different tab, he assumes on the retreats home page, where he sees the confirmed reservation, along with the dates and other miniscule information Niall probably read over a thousand times.

Louis’ eyes widen in surprise, “So soon?”

When he agreed on this trip, he didn’t think it would happen that fast. He was counting on a few days of lounging on the couch with Liam’s ice cream and more of Mary Berry before ultimately packing his bags and leaving for a few days.

Niall shares a soft, sympathetic smile, “Don’t worry about it, Lou. The sooner, the better, right? Besides, Liam and I will take you to the bus stop; of course we wouldn’t send you off by yourself.”

“Alright,” Louis eventually agrees. “I’m expecting a lot of tears from both of you, by the way.”

“Wouldn’t have it for any less,” Niall teases and pokes Louis’ side, exactly where he knows he was ticklish. Louis yelps and flinches, not expecting the quite rude assault. He glares at his giggling Irish mate and snags the laptop right out of his grip, carefully closing it and placing it on the coffee table. The two of them stare at each other with raised brows, until Louis lets out a heroic yell and hurdles his body right onto Niall’s, tickling his defenceless best friend until he loses the upper hand and is thrown onto the couch with suppressed giggles and yelps so he won’t give in.

If Liam had to come in and put an end to their tickle war, it was no one’s business but his.

\--

The day came and went and soon enough, the following morning, Liam and Niall are impatiently waiting by the door, Louis’ suitcase in hand, waiting.

“Louis!” Niall yells out for the umpteenth time, “You’re going to miss your bus if you don’t take your fingers out of your arse already!”

Some noises are heard from inside the bathroom, until the door opened, revealing an angry looking little Louis. 

“S’not my fault you stole my best beanie,” Louis huffs, adjusting his fringe under his favorite grey beanie as best as he could. So what if he took ages to make his hair look good, is it a crime to want to look decent for a five hour long bus ride? “And I wasn’t fingering myself in there anyways, Niall. You know I always save that when I’m on your precious couch.”

“Jokes on you, Lou,” Niall strikes back as he opens the front door and ushers them out, “You have no idea how many times I rode-”

“And that’s enough of that,” Liam smartly interrupts his boyfriend before they could go on in another one of their inappropriate brawls. Their front door neighbour is a very polite old woman who gave them cookies every once in a while, for God’s sake. The last thing she needs to hear was what that poor couch had been through.

They manage to get into Liam’s car without any more discussions regarding their couch, which Liam counted as a win. After he was forced to put Louis’ ridiculously heavy bag in the trunk of the car (_“You’re stronger than us, Liam, why would we waste all your hard working efforts at the gym?”_), they’re on their way to drop Louis off at the bus station. 

The car ride itself went fine. There wasn’t too much traffic and the songs on the radio weren’t that bad to make Louis groan with how generic they were. It was a quite common complaint he had and Niall would argue that he never seemed to complain when said songs played during their nights out at random clubs and pubs they ended up at.

“Well, I’m not shit faced right now, am I, Niall?” Louis’d always say, which not even Niall could deny was a fair point.

It started raining a few minutes into the road, not enough to be a burden, but enough that Louis could distract himself by watching as droplets of rain ran down the window in some sort of competition to see which one reaches the bottom first. Annoyingly enough, he could barely manage to keep track of them because fucking Liam always seemed to pull him out of his focus with trying to get Louis to join whichever conversation he was having with Niall.

Niall and Liam being in a relationship together never bothered Louis at all. He knew the minute he met Niall, the pair was meant to be together, even if it took them a few months to finally quit pining after each other and to start officially dating. It was frustrating to get both of them to that point, but after separately insisting to both of them, finally Louis saw results in his efforts.

They’ve been a steady pair and were never too shy to show some affection in public. It’s actually fun to tease Liam whenever he gets too sappy and obviously gone for Niall, but it’s cute and really nice to see his best mate finally find someone to love and love him back.

And, sure, Louis might’ve felt somewhat jealous of their relationship after his breakup, but it was never too serious and as soon as those thoughts came to his mind, he’d let go of them just as fast. But suddenly, reality seemed to sink in, and Louis was currently being sent off to a retreat to try and help him get over his ex, while being in the backseat of a car, watching as Liam held Niall’s hand over his thigh, occasionally squeezing it and making the corner of Niall’s lips twitch into a soft smile, and it honestly hurt that he didn’t have that anymore.

Louis sighs. He lets his head fall back against his seat and closes his eyes. He could only hope this trip would do him any good.

  
\--

  
By the time they finally reach the bus stop with a few minutes to spare, the mellow drizzle of rain had turned into a heavy rainstorm and Louis was thankful Niall insisted he put on a warm enough coat and a beanie to protect him from getting completely soaked. He can’t say the same for his shoes, though. He knew the bus ride would take quite some time, so he wanted to wear something comfortable enough and easy to slip off. His trusty old vans with holes on the sides he’d had for years were suddenly the worst idea he had and he had half a mind to ask Liam to carry him into the bus, as well as his luggage.

Neither of them had any umbrellas in hand, so they (Liam) quickly take out Louis’ bags from the trunk and rush to the covered bus stop area where Louis scrunches his nose at the feel of his comfy joggers getting wet, as well as his coat. Granted, it manages to keep his underneath sweater warm and dry, but it was still mildly uncomfortable.

People boarding the same bus to the retreat started piling their own luggage in the large bus’ trunk and some were already getting inside it, most likely taking the best spots for themselves. As long as Louis has a window seat, he’ll be fine.

“We’re gonna miss you, Lou,” Liam says as he pulled him in for a hug. Louis returns the warm embrace and pats his hands on his broad back.

“Enjoy your couch while you can, you weirdos,” Louis teases, shooting a wink at Niall as Liam loosens his grip on his smaller friend. “I’ll be back home soon.”

Niall rolls his eyes. It’s his turn to pull the brat into a warm hug. “Just take your time to relax, love. Enjoy yourself there, alright?”

“Alright, alright,” Louis dismisses, tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. He already knew he couldn’t quite stay in his little cabin all week, staring at the ceilings and playing games on his phone. He paid for this trip, and even though there was still a part of him who still loved Keegan, he wanted nothing more than to get over him. 

“Do you want us to keep your phone?” Niall asks, “Y’know, to keep you from lurking on Keegan’s stupid insta account?”

Louis wants to laugh at Niall’s lame insult, (accurate, but still lame), but the assumption that Louis will actually stalk on his ex’s account frustrates Louis. He did it a few times after he was freshly broken up with, and _some people_ couldn’t seem to let it go.

“No, _Niall_. I won’t be doing any of that shit and you know my mum would kill me if I didn’t answer her calls.”

Niall raises his hands in defeat, “Fair enough, I was just asking.”

“Do you have your papers with you?” Liam asks, to divert Louis from flicking his boyfriends ear like he did everytime he pissed the little brat off.

Louis takes out a badly folded piece of paper with confirming details that he bought a seat in this specific bus from the pocket of his coat. Luckily, the pelting rain didn’t soak through his coat and dampen the important paper.

“Yep, ” Louis shows them the papers and watches as Niall’s face turns into a frown. 

“Jesus, Lou, how’d you get that all crumpled up?” Niall fusses, “At least try not to let it get wet on your way to the bus.”

“I won’t, mum,” He rolls his eyes. “Actually, I don’t think my mum even frets over me half as much as you do.”

“Sure,” Niall scoffs, “I’ll have to have a conversation with Jay on that.”

“Be my guest,” Louis shrugs, yet he still makes a quick mental note to call his mum and tell her not to throw him under the bus if Niall would end up calling. He knew of the stories of him being a brat basically all his life, which he was sure were most likely exaggerated, but he can’t risk any chances. “Anyways, I better be off now.”

“Please call or text us whenever you can, yeah?” Liam asks. “We’re here for you, even if we won’t be physically there with you.”

“I’ll send you a postcard,” Louis teases, but given the soft expression on the couples face, Louis momentarily drops his bratty attitude. “I’ll call you lot every night and when I get there, don’t worry. I won’t have you miss me too much.”

“That’s impossible,” Liam pulls Louis in for yet another hug, dragging Niall along as well. The three of them stood there in an odd three people embrace before Louis really, really has to go. There are still quite a few people waiting in line, but he won’t be satisfied with anything less than a window seat so with a final loving squeeze, Louis grabs the handle of his suitcase and bids his best mates goodbye before turning around and trying to avoid the rain as much as he could.

When everything was set and he showed the crumpled piece of paper to the bus driver, who seemed like he didn’t really care about the state of it (unlike _some_ people Louis was very acquainted with), Louis manages to snag a window seat in the middle of the bus and prays no one would sit next to him so he could decently stretch his legs. It was a long drive, after all, and one could only stay seated in one way for so long without getting uncomfortable.

Families and couples were seated and piling into the bus, all seeming pleasantly happy and excited for the trip. Louis would be lying if he said he isn’t even remotely excited. He always had a flare for adventures and trips, so a part of him was happy to explore a new place he hasn’t been to before. Walks through the park near his uni always relaxed Louis whenever he got too stressed out, even if there were a bunch of crying toddlers around during the day. He’d never really gone hiking in a forest trail before, so that was something to look forward to.

Louis watches as people settle into the bus seats as he plugs his headphones into his old iPod from high school that still manage to work like a charm. His coat was already off and covering his legs in a makeshift blanket. The bus was a bit cold, probably due to the air conditioning inside to help make it feel less stuffy, so Louis decides on keeping his legs covered. Plus, it felt really cozy despite the dampness on the outside of the coat. It was mostly dried off from the rain, but it still felt uncomfortable to the touch, so Louis puts an elbow on the window on his left and looks out as he listens to his music on shuffle.

  
\---

  
The good thing about this trip so far was that nobody sat next to Louis, meaning he could pull the annoying arm rest down and happily stretch his legs out on the empty seat beside him. However, the good things about it begin and end right there.

For one, the rain outside hasn’t calmed down. Louis can barely even see the lovely sightings outside. The AC also seemed to have stopped working at some point during the first hour. The stuffiness Louis was dreading was slowly coming on full force to the point where he can’t handle the warm coat on his legs anymore, nor the beanie on his head. Even with using his phones front camera, he can’t seem to properly fix his hair how he liked it and now he looked like he’s never seen a hairbrush in his entire life.

The cherry on top of the cake has to go to how the toddlers in this bus couldn’t keep quiet for any longer than five minutes. There’s always some kid crying, which turns into a chain reaction of another kid starting to cry, and then another one, too. They’re crying, throwing tantrums, because they’re tired of being stuck in a bus for a little over an hour, yet. Of course, excited, loud squeals and giggles can be heard too, which Louis could tolerate just fine, but those aren’t even half as bad as the wailing that make him want to bang his head against the window. 

Louis has always been very patient with kids, and he genuinely likes them, and can’t wait to have his own. He’s done his fair share of babysitting his neighbours’ kids to get some extra pocket money when he was a teenager to know this, but it’s still very annoying how he can hear the loud cries over his music and how their parents don’t seem to care at all. 

He sighs and closes his eyes, turning the volume impossibly louder.

‘_Just a few more hours_.’

\---

Unsurprisingly, those ‘few hours’ felt like a lifetime.

When the bus finally stops at the entrance of the retreat, Louis’ whole body feels stiff, and he feels a weird ache on his shoulder, probably from all the attempts at finding a comfortable enough position that honestly didn’t last that long until something started to bother him. He is also convinced his bum turned completely flat with how long he’s been sitting on it. He wouldn’t be surprised, but it would surely be missed.

It’s a relief to finally stand up and stretch his legs after so long. All the other families seem pretty content, too, by how they’re rushing to pack up their kids toys so they can be the first ones out.

Louis doesn’t want to be a part of that mess; he’s feeling too cranky and groggy and won’t exactly mind sleeping for the next thirteen hours. The naps he attempted to take on the bus never lasted over ten minutes before some kid would decide to start screaming, startling him awake and making him curse Niall in his head for putting him in this situation in the first place.

So he lets everyone else get off the bus before him. He gets a lot of thankful smiles from tired parents for being so polite, but he just really doesn’t feel like dealing with tantrums going on behind him, or hearing any tired mum complain about why it’s taking so long to get off the bus. He returns the smiles and his cheeks ache by the time it was finally his turn to go down the narrow middle and outside into the fresh air.

The rain had eventually ceased, only to turn into a light snowfall. Louis is glad Niall pestered him to pack mostly warm and cozy clothes, but he strongly regrets not even having on a thick pair of socks on his feet right now. They’d look weird with his old vans on, but they’d do its job to warm up his feet like he desperately needs. It only takes a second after stepping off the bus for his toes to feel like they’re about to freeze and fall off, and he still has to wait in line to get his suitcase from the bus’ luggage compartment. 

The thought of immersing himself in a nice warm bath comes to Louis’ mind as the line gets shorter. It’s still daytime, and he overhears the people in front of him saying they can’t wait to leave their shit in their cabins and go off on a hike before dinner, and Louis strongly debates on whether or not he should go too, but he’s tired as hell and about to freeze, so maybe he’ll go after sleeping and warming up a bit. Maybe.

He gets his bag, the last one in the trunk, and drags it along with him to the entrance of this cabin in front, avoiding the snow that collected on the ground as much as he can. He momentarily marvels its size, bigger than he expected but not that huge, either, before pushing against the glass doors and being hit with a warm breeze, which is definitely better than the weather outside.

Louis discreetly swipes off the thin layer of snow from his shoulders and sees that there’s one receptionist behind a wooden counter, looking surprisingly calm and kept together, considering the line of families waiting their turn. Sighing, because he knows he’ll have to wait a while, Louis grabs the handle of his suitcase and stops behind an old couple, who don’t seem to mind the line in front of them.

His shoulder still aches from earlier, and he tries to press his fingers and rub against the problem area in an attempt to soothe it, but it’s to no avail. He gets a few seconds of relief when he puts his hand back down, but it doesn’t take long for the pain to come right back. Toddlers are running around the lobby, screaming and giggling, completely ignoring the little play area with toys specifically meant for kids and, to be completely honest, they’re doing his fucking head in. He loves kids, he even looks forward to, at some point in his life, adopting a kid or two, but there are so many annoying little things that happened today that are really putting Louis on edge. He just needs a proper nap. And maybe an aspirin, too.

Anyways, as the line slowly gets shorter, and Louis entertains himself by playing games on his phone, he remembers he hasn’t let his best mates know his whereabouts, so he shoots Niall a quick text message saying he’s arrived at the retreat, and he felt like his head was about to explode.

That’s the spirit x, Niall texted back just as quick, and Louis doesn’t even refrain from rolling his eyes and sending three emojis of the middle finger back.

“Sir?”

Louis hadn’t even noticed it was his turn from being too engrossed with a game on his phone, and almost drops it when the polite receptionist jolts him off.

“Hi, sorry,” Louis blushes, and to make things even worse, he trips on an untied shoelace as he walks over to the wooden counter where the receptionist is standing behind. He sees her stifle a giggle when he stopped himself from colliding his face on the floor and he greatly appreciates that. He’d laugh, too, if he were in her shoes, and he’d probably do a shitty job of covering it up.

“Good afternoon, sir,” She smiles. It reaches her eyes, so Louis can tell she’s genuine about it, but she also looks tired, probably from standing up and checking in people all day. It was a pretty secluded retreat, so Louis didn’t think that many came here, but he was proved wrong with how filled the bus was. There were hardly any seats left.

“How can I help you today?”

“I, uh, I wanted to check in,” Louis says, more nervously than he intended to, but he already embarrassed himself in front of her so what else is there to lose? 

“Do you have a reservation?” She asked, already clicking away on the computer hidden behind the elevated counter. 

“I do, under Louis Tomlinson,” He answers, already going through his wallet to hand her his ID. She hums a thank you before taking it and clicks away on the computer. Louis takes the minute of silence to look through the large window on his left, watching as the snow started to lessen. 

_Just my fucking luck_, he thinks to himself.

“Right, Mr. Tomlinson,” The receptionist startles Louis from his thoughts. He nods along as she indicates anything relevant for his stay, like his cabin number, the time and place where breakfast, lunch and dinner would be held and she also hands him a map so he wouldn’t get lost during his hikes. 

“Do people usually get lost in those trails?” Louis asks her out of curiosity.

“A few times,” She shrugs, “We’ve had to add some more signs to avoid cutting down any trees or creating new clear passages that would imply disturbing the natural area. I can assure you that we haven’t had anyone lose their way since. We’ve always managed to assist as best as we could.”

Louis visibly relaxes. He’s a known wanderer and actually likes to lose himself in nature. However, he doesn’t know his way around these trails and being lost in the middle of nowhere with no way of getting help doesn’t exactly sit right with him.

“I have to add that, as you may have noticed, the weather hasn’t been the best so we strongly advise to be careful if you choose certain trails. There’s warnings of a strong blizzard coming and it’s best not to go hiking during it.”

“That's reasonable enough,” Louis nods.

After getting the full rundown of what to expect from his stay, Elaine, as Louis quickly saw on her name tag, hands him his keys to the cabin he’d be staying at. Louis thanks the polite receptionist, and follows her directions to go on his way to his own cabin and finally get some rest. He’s careful not to trip on his own laces, at least in front of her and any human being that’d be lurking around. A few people are still lounging in the lobby, so he’ll have to be extra careful to not fall flat on his face. That would count for too many embarrassing moments for one day.

It doesn’t take long for Louis to find the back door that would lead him to the cabins outside. He can already see himself finally collapsing onto the (hopefully) comfortable bed in the cabin. He’d seen the pictures Niall had shown him of the interior a few more times and he could practically _hear_ that bed calling his name. A nice, warm bath would be great too, right now. Louis and his frozen toes definitely deserve it.

He takes a hold of the metal handle and pulls it towards him, momentarily forgetting how fucking freezing it is outside and quickly gets reminded when an unexpectedly very cold breeze smacks him right on his face. His first instinct is to shut the door and to conjure a plan to somehow find a way to stay inside the lobby until it was time he left the retreat. After much self deliberating, though, he doubts there’s any comfy bed lying around, much less a bathtub.

And maybe the receptionists wouldn’t be too happy about it, but minor details.

His hand hesitates as it reaches for the handle again. Louis hears a family coming his way and he feels as if it’s the universe's way of telling him to hurry up. It’s slightly homophobic, in his own biased opinion and it's hard to not be offended by it.

Still, the sound of footsteps grew louder the more he just stood there, and to save himself from looking like an absolute weirdo in front of a family he’s never seen before, Louis mentally prepares himself and opens the door again. He instantly feels his teeth clatter and he tries his best to ignore the icy breeze threatening to freeze his precious nose off. 

“Fuckin’ hell,” Louis grumbles to himself as he pushes through the rather rude wind, grumpily pulling his coat around his chest to cover any blind spots with his free hand while the other dragged his suitcase along. It proves to be harder than he thought. His suitcase kept getting caught up on little lumps of snow, almost making Louis fall on his bum countless times. It slid on the melted snow too, occasionally jolting Louis’ arm and making the weird ache on his shoulder hurt even more. He definitely needs a warm bath to relax after this, that’s for sure.

The sudden realization that Louis’ cabin happens to be the one furthest away from the main lodge hits him as he wanders along and gets increasingly frustrated with how the numbers in front of the cabin doors weren’t matching with the one of his keychain. It was just his luck, really, and he keeps on bitterly eyeing the cabins that aren’t his for the week as he walks past them to deal with the injustice.

Louis can’t even feel his feet anymore, and he’s lost count of the amount of puddles he’s accidentally stepped in by the time he breathlessly steps onto the porch of his cabin. His fucking suitcase seems to have gained two pounds every second, and dragging it up used up all of his remaining energy. His feet are completely frozen over and the tips of his fingers look way too purple for his liking, but at least he finally made it to his long-awaited cabin.

He sighs in relief as the key easily unlocks the door, and pushes it open with his shoulder. Louis has to use both his hands to pull the suitcase with him. How he manages to do so with frozen hands and almost no energy is still a mystery to him, one he doesn’t think too much about because as soon as Louis gets the full view of the inside of the cabin, he’s instantly in awe of it.

Granted, Louis has seen the pictures of what his room would look like, but a picture couldn’t even begin to compare itself to the actual real thing. 

Obviously, the first thing Louis’ eyes catch on is the lovely bed, looking more comfy than what he’d thought; it’s neatly made and has two fluffy pillows leaning against the wooden headboard. Louis almost feels bad about wanting nothing more than to jump into that bed and ruin the tidiness of it all. 

Instead, Louis goes against his desires and closes the door behind him, cutting off the breeze from outside and being pleasantly surprised how warm the cabin gets, all things considered. 

He takes a look over the room, eyes falling on the matching wooden bedside tables on either side of the bed, each holding lamps that added into the cozy vibe. A rustic wooden arm chair with dark brown padding was put under the window, warm coloured beige curtains pushed to the side, and Louis appreciates how it matched with the rest of the small room. 

There is also a wooden desk with a small notepad and pencil resting on top of it, directly in front of the bed. He notices the lack of a TV, but he doesn’t mind it so much since he’ll be spending more time outside anyways. Plus, he was smart enough to download a few movies and seasons of his favorite TV shows onto his phone to watch before falling asleep in case he had no other source of entertainment in his room, so he was all set for the next few days.

The next obvious thing to do was to ditch his suitcase by the door and jump on the bed to see how comfy it was. So, naturally, Louis does just that. He quickly scrambles himself out of his soaked sneakers and warm coat and hears himself giggle as he ran to his bed for the week and throws himself onto the mattress, pleasantly surprised to find out how comfortable it actually is. 

He could fall asleep right there and he almost does. Louis’ eyes start to feel heavy as he gets comfortable over the sheets. He even blindy pulls a pillow under his head and lets his mind drift off, until he remembers how much he needs a warm bath. 

Reluctantly and with a loud groan, Louis pulls himself off the bed and ventures off into the connected bathroom. It’s pretty generic looking, has all his basic needs, and his eyes go straight to the tub. He can already see himself soaking inside it for hours until the water turns cold, and even after. Without wasting any second, Louis turns on the faucet, letting the stream of water fall on his hand until he deems it warm enough to fill the tub. When the temperature is just right, Louis adds some soap to the water and rids himself off his clothes, leaving them in a heap next to the sink and dips his left foot in, content to already feel his toes come back to life. 

He carefully lets himself drop in the tub and rest his back on it, revelling in this nice feeling he’s been craving for hours. He closes his eyes and sinks until the water is leveled with his shoulders and with a lot of effort, Louis stretches his leg and turns the tap off with his foot. The bathroom becomes quiet now that the stream cut off, and the deafening silence he didn’t even account for has it finally sink in how he’s alone. 

Throughout all this time since his break up, there was hardly a second Louis was by himself. Sure, he was left alone when his best mates went off to work, but this situation was completely different. He didn’t have his friends here to cheer him up if he was having a bad day, he didn’t have the movie nights or the warm cuddles and he honestly missed throwing a pillow at Liam for no reason whatsoever, and the whining that ensued right after. 

A foreign feeling of loneliness washes through Louis. He’s uncomfortable and doesn’t know how to deal with a sinking feeling in his tummy, so he closes his eyes and scoots his bum forward in the tub, wetting the back of hair and covering his ears, leaving only his face exposed to the outside world.

  
\--

  
After a very relaxing and drawn out bath, Louis’ body temperature goes back to normal and he doesn’t feel half as tired as he did when he first stepped into the tub. It might’ve been due to how he slipped in and out of a short nap until the water started to cool down, but the sun is still up and he feels the need to stretch his legs for a while after having been off his feet for quite some time. 

One good thing about having his own cabin is that Louis could walk around naked without the fear of his best mates walking in. There’s been a few situations where mostly Liam wouldn’t notice there was someone about to take a shower, only to be met with the sight of Louis’ plump bum and a few (_a lot)_ of reprimanding about how Liam should learn how to knock before walking into the bathroom. He’d apologize relentlessly, but would end up doing the same thing again in a matter of days. 

So it’s nice that Louis can waltz around his room as naked as he’d like and he does just that after he’s finished drying off in the bathroom. He throws his towel on the rack and goes back out to his room, where the temperature difference from the steaming bathroom to his room leaves him with goosebumps all over his arms. 

Louis zips open his suitcase and grabs the first pair of panties he can find. A dark red cotton fabric makes its way up louis’ thighs until they’re comfortably on and he pulls out a clean and warm pair of sweatpants, an undershirt, a dark grey sweater and some warm socks. Luckily, Louis had packed enough warm clothes for the entirety of this trip that would manage to keep him warm enough for his hikes. He already got a taste of how fucking cold it got, and he was glad he didn’t go with packing t-shirts and old hoodies and called it a day.

He’s all dressed up and ready and as a last second reminder, packs an extra sweater and a few snacks in his backpack for the hike. The weather would most likely get colder and it’s been a while since Louis’ last eaten, so it was better to be prepared for anything that could come up.

He ties his shoelaces, zips up his coat, adjusts the straps of his backpack on his shoulders, and he’s officially ready to go hiking. He’s smart enough to grab the map Elaine had given to him earlier and also the beanie to warm up his head. After patting down his pockets to make sure he’s all set, Louis is out of his cabin and this time, he’s prepared for the cold.

Louis makes his way over to the closest trail, and the five minute walk already has his cheeks tinting and nose feeling like it’s about to freeze off. But, for once, Louis doesn’t seem to mind it as much. He’s actually excited to go on these trails. There’s still snow around, but it stopped snowing sometime during Louis’ bath, so most of it melted anyways. 

A few of the trails were off limits considering the upcoming blizzard, and Louis had to check several times on the map and the signs that he was heading the right way. He wasn’t lost yet, which he counts as a win. 

Louis’ been walking for a while. He steps on countless sticks and leaves and happily takes in his surroundings. The trees look beautiful, snow coating its leaves, and Louis mentally curses himself for forgetting his shitty camera at home and for leaving his phone charging in the cabin. To be fair, his camera was an old hand me down his mum had given him in high school, which at the time was pretty decent. Obviously, technology had its updates and Louis might’ve dropped it one too many times, and the quality definitely could be better. He’s due for an upgrade, but maybe he’s a bit too attached to his old one, even if it’s had better days. Either way, Louis makes a mental note to bring his phone fully charged next time. Niall would kill him if he didn’t have any pictures to show when he got back home.

The hike, so far, has been pleasant. But that airy feeling of contentedness slowly lowers when Louis spots a few families and couples walking around like him. 

It’s not something Louis didn’t necessarily expect to see, not by a long shot. He was well aware how packed this place was with families, even before stepping inside the bus that brought him here, but it’s the happy couples he sees that brings his feet back to the ground and out of this false illusion of peace in his mind. 

Louis wouldn’t say he’s bitter, or still angry at Keegan for all the shit he’s put Louis through, but there’s still _a lot_ of resentment laying around and more importantly, hurt. Louis’ still hurt, the flesh wound is still wide open and these happy couples, couples that are laughing together, holding hands and sharing kisses makes it hard for Louis to distract himself with the goddamn trails.

Who was he kidding? 

Louis keeps walking, except this time, it’s more of a stomping than an actual relaxed pace. He doesn’t care about the sticks he’s stepping on and he doesn’t take a second to appreciate the unique tree on his left or the funny looking bush on his right. 

The final drop hits when Louis sees a man down on one knee and proposing to his boyfriend. Louis doesn’t intend to stay and watch, but the man says yes and they share a warm hug filled with happy tears and Louis’ fucking had it. If this is the universes way of telling Louis to fuck right off, well, message recieved.

He turns around, and doesn’t even reach for his map to know how to go back because he’s sure he’d rip it out of frustration. He clenches his fists as he walks back, getting angrier the more couples he sees. It doesn’t take long for that anger to turn into sadness and suddenly, there’s tears in Louis’ eyes.

This trip was a mistake. A huge, huge mistake. How stupid was he to believe that a fucking walk around the woods would magically cure his broken heart. Obviously it didn’t and now he’s fucking crying.

Louis makes it to his cabin quicker than he expected to and slams the door shut right behind him. He chucks his backpack to the floor and carelessly takes off his clothes and doesn’t bother to pick them up from the floor. Right now he needs one thing and it’s to cover himself with the bed’s blankets and cry himself to sleep. He didn’t even have dinner but, to be honest, food is the last thing on his mind right now. 

He’s down to his panties and t-shirt he wore underneath and there’s tears streaming down his face. Louis crawls into bed and pulls the sheets over his entire body. He buries his face in the pillow and chokes out empty sobs and wails until his eyes are too puffy and his throat is too achy and he falls asleep at some point, dreaming about a time he’d finally be happy again.

  
\----

  
The next day was better; weather wise, at least. The sun shines through the curtains Louis didn’t even bother closing yesterday and he’s groggy as he feels himself wake up. There’s a massive headache storming in his brain, and there’s an uncomfortable puffiness around Louis’ eyes that serve him of a reminder of how yesterday went down.

Turning over in bed and shoving his face on the pillow doesn’t make him feel any better. His shoulder is aching and his neck has a weird kink that hurts no matter what position Louis’ in. It makes drowning his sorrows in bed a harder task than anticipated, and it doesn’t take long for his frustration to boil over to the point where he can’t stand even being in bed anymore.

He throws the covers off his body and groans at the stinging headache he has when he sits up. He’s sure he packed some medicine in his bag, but the noise his tummy makes when he stands up for a shower reminds him that he missed dinner yesterday and he’ll need to eat before taking some pills for his head. 

It feels like a chore to go through his morning routine, and it’s even worse when Louis has to walk out in the cold all the way back to the main cabin to get his fill of breakfast food. And it’s not like his headache died down during the very hot shower he took beforehand. It’s gotten worse, somehow, and Louis grumbles through every second of it.

There’s screaming children in the restaurant area and Louis can hear them before he can even step inside. He considers going back to his cabin and trying to survive on nutrition bars and homemade cookies he stole from his best mates without them seeing, but the smell of freshly made croissants wins him over. He pulls the hood of his hoodie over his head in a weak attempt to drown the cries out.

It’s almost Louis’ worst decision ever. Dating Keegan takes the first place, or maybe this whole retreat does, but eating his damn croissants and scrambled eggs in a closed space with crying children and parents who wouldn’t even bat an eye is definitely a runner up.

A particular high pitched cry does it for him. Louis rolls up his last half-eaten croissant in a napkin and swallows down his lukewarm tea before he gets up and gets the fuck of out of there. Maybe leaving his bed was a bad idea, after all.

\---

Louis eventually gets out of his self deprecating isolation from the outside world when he gets a phone call from Niall.

He had been minding his own business, either crying softly in his pillow or trying to will himself asleep so he wouldn’t have to deal with all these emotions coming up, when Niall calls him. It’s very rude to interrupt someone mid-breakdown, and Louis even considered not answering the call, but he’s no stranger to how incessant Niall can get when he wants to. So after letting his phone buzz on the bedside table for longer than he should’ve, Louis reluctantly figures it’s better to get it over with now so he could get back to his pity party with no interruptions. He had made a mental note to turn his phone off next time, and hoped he wouldn’t forget about it.

Needless to say, the conversation quickly steers to Louis’ current mental state and Louis can’t help but flinch when he hears a slight twinge of disappointment lacing his best mates voice. It might’ve been because Louis was hiding in bed for almost an entire day, but Louis later realizes it could be because of how Niall’s infallible plan to get Louis back on track wasn’t exactly working. Neither makes him feel any less guilty. 

As the conversation goes, Louis is almost certain Niall wishes Louis was doing what he came here to do; go outside and clear his head. At some point, Niall’s voice softens and he comforts Louis when he hears him sniffle quietly on the other end of the line. He keeps giving encouraging words to Louis, and that in itself makes Louis want to cry harder. 

Louis’ feeling very emotional, is the thing, and the waterworks don’t quite stop, even after the phone call was long over. He feels like a little baby, helpless and even overdramatic as he sobs against his already damp pillow. 

It just, it hurts.

It hurts that Keegan shattered his heart to pieces, it hurts that he doesn’t have a shoulder to cry on, it hurts that he’s so damn fucking dependant on other people for his own well being. It’s been like this for as long as Louis can remember and it’s currently hitting him like a train.

And honestly, Louis’ fucking had it. 

He’s frustrated, above everything, and fucking tired of crying over things that shouldn’t even matter. Why is he wasting his tears over a man who doesn’t deserve them? Why doesn’t he make a little more of an effort to actually immerse himself in something his best mates spent their free time organizing, just so he could feel better? He could’ve just stayed at home and done the exact same thing so why on earth is he wasting his time here? For fuck’s sake, Louis loves travelling and exploring new places and the facts that he’s doing the exact opposite is, for a lack of a better word, plain stupid. 

With that in mind, Louis feverishly sits up in bed and wipes his tears from his face with the back of his hand. His eyes feel puffy and there’s an uncomfortable scratchy feeling at the back of his throat, but Louis ignores it and pushes himself off the bed.

He’s going on a fucking hike and nothing can stop him from doing so. 

  
\------

  
Louis gets ready faster than he ever has in his life, and that says a lot about him.

He’s dressed up in warm leggings, sweaters, wool socks, his favorite grey beanie and his trusty coat, and he honestly just wants to get out of his cabin. Louis doesn’t even think twice before grabbing his backpack and the keys before opening the front door, and is a little surprised to see how the weather has shifted from earlier.

The sun is no longer shining as brightly and, instead, the sky is grey, and there’s more snow falling onto the ground. Louis pulls his coat closer to his body and doesn’t let the weather intimidate him. Sure, it’s colder and not what he expected for today, but he sure as hell isn’t about to let a few snowflakes ruin his damn hike. 

So he sets off and it takes him even less to reach the start of the trail. He stops for a second to pull out his map, but after rummaging through and almost throwing everything out of the bag, Louis realizes he most likely left it on top of the desk in his cabin. He groans and curses under his breath, and considers going all the way back just to grab it, but ends up deciding against it. There’s arrows and signs and clear paths all around, from what Louis has seen so far, and he feels like he has a pretty good sense of direction, so he’ll be fine. He sees people further down, so if he’s lost, he can always ask for help if he needs it.

He’s confident enough to know he’ll be fine, so he starts walking and dodges the puddles of melted snow as he wanders down the trail. Louis takes a deep breath and relaxes his shoulders. 

This is fine. He’ll be fine. 

  
\-----

  
Louis isn’t fine. 

Turns out walking by yourself can lead to getting lost in your own thoughts and, consequently, overthinking shit. The first one doesn’t strike as a horrible thing, even if there’s times and places where getting distracted might not be the ideal situation, but it’s the worst fucking thing right now and it’s taking a lot of effort to not smack his head against a tree.

Even though Louis tried his hardest to keep negative thoughts away, to avoid any breakdowns in the middle of a goddamn forest with people and families hiking around and most likely having a great time, it’s pretty much impossible to keep those thoughts away and embarrassingly enough, it really doesn’t take long before he’s cursing under his breath while trying to avoid getting his boots soaked. 

He gets so far in his head that the only reason he even comes back down to reality is when he accidentally trips on a tree branch, (one he was obviously too distracted too dodge, but then again it had snow covering it and who knew there was a whole branch under waiting to trip distracted wanderers?), and is too slow to catch himself, so he yelps and crashes down on his hands and knees.

Luckily for him, the damage isn’t really that bad. He fell onto a thick lump of snow, so the worst part is how wet and fucking cold his hands and knees got. His leggings get soaked through below his knees and Louis’ shivering when he gets back up on his feet.

Louis wipes off the snow from his clothes and it’s only then that he realizes how much colder it is. The wind is blowing cold breezes and it’s not because Louis is currently standing still. His teeth start to clatter and he shoves his freezing hands inside his warm pockets. It feels good for a hot minute before the cold starts to settle in his bones and he’s fucking shivering all over.

The snow seems to be coming down heavier than when he started the trail and-

Where the hell is he. 

Louis frowns as he looks around. He doesn’t recognize where he is, even if it’s almost fully covered in snow. There’s no signs or arrows to indicate him the right way for the trails, or even back to the main cabin and Louis starts freaking out. There’s no one around, either, not even a single person. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn’t think he’s seen anyone for quite a while. Louis doesn’t even know for long he’s been out. Could be an hour, maybe two, and that just makes Louis’ mind spiral deeper. 

He’s practically spinning in circles, trying to figure out which direction he came through but everything looks the same and Louis wants to cry. He ends up choosing the path on his right, with only his gut feeling pulling him that way, and hopes it’s the one that’ll lead him back to safety. 

It’s getting colder every second that ticks by and Louis doesn’t want to think about the possibilities of freezing to death in the middle of nowhere, but it still crosses his mind and he chokes back the desperate tears because that’s not gonna happen. It’s not!

Okay, so he might be being a bit over dramatic right now, but he’s seen articles and movies about people dying out in the cold and he didn’t want to be another one on that list. He’s too young and beautiful to die right now, and the last thing he wants to do is accept that freezing to death is in his fate. 

But it’s so fucking cold and Louis feels like he’s walking around in circles since all he sees are trees and snow and that’s basically it. There’s a strong chance he chose the wrong path, considering he’s been walking for a little over half an hour, or so he imagines, and he still doesn’t recognize anything or see anyone wandering around. 

It’s not surprising, though, because who in the right state of mind would go for a fucking hike when it’s snowing like crazy and it feels like a fucking blizzard is about to come down, if it’s not already in action.

And that’s when it hits him. He suddenly remembers how Elaine, the polite receptionist, had warned him of an uppcoming blizzard and he almost wants to scream for how stupid he was to leave the comfort of his cabin without checking the weather beforehand. This could’ve all been easily avoided. Sure, he’d hate to be stuck inside his cabin when he really felt the need to go out, but at least he wouldn’t be freezing his balls off and on the verge of death.

Still very dramatic, but it had a very valid reasoning behind.

Louis huddles up in his clothes in a weak attempt to fight off the cold and he wants to stop walking to sit down and cry, until he sees it.

At first, he thinks his eyes might be playing tricks on him. It’s snowing a lot, he’s starting to get hungry and the cold might have gotten to his brain, because there was no way he spotted a cabin in the middle of some trees. It’s practically hidden completely behind them which is why Louis has to do a double take just to be sure he wasn’t delusional and seeing things.

However, the closer he strides to what he hopes is a real cabin, the realer it gets, and Louis wants to pinch himself to make sure he isn’t dreaming. He doesn’t think his hands work properly right now, though. They’ve gone so cold that it hurts to even twitch them around and get his blood flowing, so he’ll save that pinch for later. It might not be necessary, though, because as soon as Louis reaches the cabin’s front door, he knows he isn’t dreaming. 

He wastes no time in pushing the front door open. Louis is completely covered in snow and he’s surprised his limbs haven’t turned into ice cubes, so to have some coverage sounds like paradise to him. He opens the front door and closes it behind him, letting out a sigh of relief to finally having a roof over his head. 

It was still pretty cold inside, though, and it’s probably due to the fact that Louis was currently inside an abandoned cabin that was bare of any essentials. It’s a lot less scary than what horror movies made them out to be, and a lot colder than he’d expected. There’s nothing in here other than a broken bed frame and Louis thinks it’s probably more comfortable to sit down on the floor and wait this blizzard out, even if it means he might freeze his bum off.

There’s a window that surprisingly isn’t cracked and Louis can see how strong the blizzard is getting outside. He can still hear it too, from outside and he’s glad he’s finally safe from it.

Louis shrugs off his backpack and leaves it on the floor. He considers taking off his coat and laying it on the floor to be more comfortable when he sits down, but a shiver runs through his entire body as he unzips it. Maybe it’s not worth it. 

He sits down and tucks himself against the wooden wall. He shivers as the cold runs through him, even with his legs pressed against his chest and arms around his knees as a way to get warm in this goddamn freezer. Even pulling his backpack beside him hardly helps, and he’s convinced he might freeze his limbs off in the next few hours. It’s a pretty morbid thought to have, especially for Louis, but it still sticks in the back of his mind the longer he sits there and the less feeling he has in the tips of his fingers. 

Louis shoves his hands between his thighs in an attempt to warm them up. His stomach starts to grumble, too, as a reminder that Louis hasn’t eaten or drank anything in a while now. He doesn’t want to take his hands out from between his thighs - which managed to warm them up, at least a little - but he also doesn’t want to starve so, reluctantly, he exposes his hands to the cold as he zips his backpack down and grabs the first thing that feels like food.

He pulls out two granola bars, and he already knows that won’t be enough to keep his stomach’s grumbling at bay. He still has a half eaten croissant, too, and a bottle of water, but who knows how long he’s staying stuck in the cabin. The blizzard is still going strong, and Louis swears he can feel the wind from outside, but he still has a thread of hope it’ll settle down soon and he’ll be back in the warmth of his bed. 

In the midst of grabbing the bottled water from his bag, Louis finds his phone in there. He had it charged all the way up before he left and he figures he should call the reception, letting them know he’s potentially lost and in the middle of a blizzard. There’s no point in asking for help; he knows no one would come find him in the middle of a practical snow storm. But he thinks it’s better to notify them now anyways. Except...he gets no reception here. Not even one teeny, tiny bar. 

Louis tries raising his phone to get at least one bar, but it’s hopeless. Even turning his phone on and off again doesn’t do much to help and it feels like an appropriate time to mildly panic. He thinks it’s just his luck that he’s stuck in the middle of fucking no where with no way of communicating with the outside world, and he regrets not writing out a will of the very little possesions he owned. Niall would probably keep all of his clothes, and Liam would go for the nice watch Louis’ grandad gave him when he turned eighteen, and Louis wouldn’t be there to fight them on it.

Thinking about his best mates back home doesn’t help his situation at all, and it only gets worse when he thinks about everything else he’d leave behind. His mum, his job, even fucking Karen nagging at him at his job. He even thinks about Keegan, which is the last thing he’d ever want to think about, more so on his fucking deathbed. 

Louis starts to cry. 

There’s tears falling down his cheeks before he can even realize it and even when he does, he doesn’t stop himself from letting them out. He’s crying, sobbing, because he’s so fucking cold right now, and he just wants to go back home; back to his friends, back to his mum, back to his boring job and back to drinking wine while watching The Great British Bake off under a warm blanket and wishing he had half the skills of the competitors. He even misses the stupid commercials that lasted forever. 

But above all, he’s crying because he’s alone, and this time, he really feels the loneliness hit him like a truck. It’s not a good feeling at all and this, Louis thinks, really is what hitting rock bottom looks like. 

He cries into the sleeve of his coat, pretty much soaking it up with his tears, and he’s so overwhelmed by all his snowballing thoughts and feelings that he almost misses the noise coming from outside the door. ‘Almost’ being the keyword. 

His sobs tone down to quiet little sniffles as he glances at the door. There’s a ruckus going on behind it. Louis’ can’t quite decipher what’s happening and the sound of the wind doesn’t help much either, but then the noise becomes clearer and Louis’ heart starts racing in his chest. There’s bangings against the door and muffled grunts and Louis feels like he’s about to shit himself.

He knows fuck all about self defense, and he doesn’t even know what the hell is outside trying to break in, but he still gets up from his spot against the wall, hissing at the change of temperature from being all huddled up to now being on his feet. Still, Louis doesn’t allow himself to let the cold affect him, not when he’s about two seconds from being mauled by a bear (_are there even bears around here?_) or recreating a scene in a cliché horror movie where the hot blonde girl gets killed inside of a cabin. 

He’s not blonde, or even a girl, but he knows he’s hot, and that’s close enough.

The banging doesn’t stop, and Louis bolts to the broken bed frame, where he grabs a loose plank and, convincing himself he could win against a bear in a fight, makes his way to the front door. He’s scared shitless, is the thing, and he knows this is a bad idea no matter what’s on the other side of the door, but he still waits, plank firmly grasped on his hands and ready to defend himself from the monster outside.

The anticipation is killing him, and he’s not sure if he’s trembling because of the cold or because he’s fucking terrified for his life, but the noises coming from outside suddenly halt for a second and Louis’ seen enough movies to actually doubt that he’s safe at all.

He tentatively, and with a stupid amount of courage he didn’t even know he had in him, grips the plank tighter as he takes a step forward and of course, as predicted, it was just a test to see how prepared Louis was to defend himself, because the banging started again, except now it only took one rough shove against the door before it opens up and, without thinking, Louis lets out a scream and closes his eyes before swinging the plank in front of him and somehow manages to hit a hard surface.

And for all the things Louis was expecting to hear, the last thing he expected was an ‘_Ouch! What the fuck?!_’, followed by a pained groan. 

The adrenaline from hitting something with a goddamn wooden plank, successfully so, is still rushing through Louis’ veins, and there’s a victory dance playing in his head for defending himself from danger, but it all freezes up when Louis opens his eyes and instantly realizes he didn’t just hit a bear, or whatever monster his imagination was coming up with. 

No, Louis just a hit a person. An actual human being. 

And given the clothes the stranger was wearing and large travelling bag on their back, he just hit an innocent hiker, who was most likely minding their own business and probably looking for some place to be out of the blizzard and definitely not expecting to get fucking ambushed with a wooden plank. 

Louis instantly drops the plank in regret.

“Oh my god. Oh my-I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see you, I-”

An embarrassed blush stains Louis’ face and he has half a mind to try and help the stranger who looks to be in mild pain as he rubs the side where Louis hit him, but he’s already done enough damage already and, knowing himself, he’d most likely break a rib or two, if he hasn’t already.

The stranger carried a pain expression on their face while keeping a hand on his left side where Louis ruthlessly smacked him, but that didn’t seem to stop him from breathing out a chuckle.

“No, it...it’s okay,” The stranger strains through a gruff voice. It’s clearly not okay and Louis can’t help but feel so horrible about what he did and he almost wishes he’d think more rationally before going straight to attack mode. That is, until the stranger opens his mouth again. 

“Never got hit on like that before.” 

And Louis is at a loss for words. 

It doesn’t help their situation when the stranger notices how Louis looks taken aback, clearly not expecting a fucking _pun_ to come out from his mouth. 

“Sorry,” The stranger apologizes, still rubbing his side, “I can’t help myself from being so painfully punny at times, I’ll have to apologize in advance for that.”

The stranger has a polite smile on his face, and it’s only now that Louis can take in what the man he smacked looks like, instead of having thoughts of accidentally seriously harming an innocent person swarming his mind. 

He’s tall - around six foot, or maybe even more - and it’s the first thing Louis’ notices about him. The second is how his shoulders are ridiculously broad, and Louis’ certain it’s not because of the coat he’s wearing. It’s clinging tightly to his torso, which hardly leaves much for imagination. He’s fucking massive, and that feels like the understatement of the day. 

He’s got a nice looking face too, a defined jaw and a mixture of masculine and feminine features that add up to a very attractive face. He looks like the type of guy Louis’ would normally be go for, and that’s a weird thought to have after hitting someone with a wooden plank from a broken bed frame.

Louis almost forgets how to speak, but then he remembers staring at hot strangers doesn’t really constitute a conversation, and he also probably looks like a weirdo right now, and there’s a weird urge he gets to make a good impression on him, despite the rocky first impression.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to forgive you if that’s the type of puns you’ve got,” Louis teases, and he’s a little surprised when Hot Stranger, as Louis has decided to call him, genuinely laughs. Not that he’s not used to making people laugh, it’s just that sometimes his sarcasm doesn’t come across as such and that’s landed him some pretty awkward first impressions, which doesn’t seem to be the case right now. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” He says, putting out his hand out for Louis to shake, “I’m Harry.”

Harry. It suits him.

“Louis,” The shorter one replies, squeezing Harry’s larger gloved hand in his palm, ignoring how warm and fucking big it is and how it completely engulfs Louis’ smaller one. It’s probably because of the gloves. It must be. 

“S’nice to meet you, Louis,” Harry smiles politely, and he tries not to think too much about how charming he looks, with that stupidly genuine smile on his face. 

“You’re not gonna hit me again, right?” Harry asks after letting go of Louis’ hand. The latter feels his hand go cold again, and if he was stuck in a cabin with Liam, he’d most likely had stolen Liam’s gloves and made an excuse about how his hands get colder than his. Liam would complain, but he always gives in and Louis would happily end up with the warm gloves on.

“Can’t make any promises, Harold,” Louis points out, “Bad puns might get you smacked again, though, so you better watch it.”

And Harry laughs, again.

They stand there for a second, Louis not being too sure of what to do now, before Harry goes to peel his large bag off his back and sets it down beside Louis’ own. It’s a little weird, how he’s settling right into the little cabin without so much of glancing around it, but the thought doesn’t sit too long in Louis’ mind because once Harry’s bag is down, he turns his back to the shorter one, takes his blue beanie off, and Louis almost wants to laugh at the universes sick joke.

Harry has curls. 

Well. He has his hair tied up in a messy bun, probably from being stuck inside that beanie for quite a while, and he has stray curls falling out, but it’s like, of _fucking_ course this man has curly hair. Above every other attractive atriubuttes he had, he also has fucking curls, and it’s a little unfair, in Louis’ opinion.

It’s also unfair that it’s basically confirmed that, looks wise, Harry’s exactly his type, and it’s fucking hilarious how he’s had a shit couple of weeks, even worse past few days, and he’s now stuck in an abandoned cabin with a man who looks _exactly_ like his ideal type of guy for an indeterminable amount of time. 

It must be some sort of sick joke to make Louis feel like he’s going nuts. And it’s fucking working.

Harry unzips his coat and starts to take it off, and Louis catches himself staring at his back, watching how actually broad he was under that coat. As predicted, he’s still just as massive, as Louis thought he was. He’s so distracted with watching the scene in front of him, that he completely misses what Harry’s saying. 

“Sorry, what?” He hopes he wasn’t too obvious in the involuntary ogling, but there’s a smile on Harrys’ face and Louis can’t quite figure out if it’s because he caught him, or because Harry seems to be a genuinely nice and happy person. Louis’ hoping for the latter. 

“I said, I guess we’re stuck here for a while,” Harry repeats his words as he lays his coat down, warm side up, on the cold wooden floor before sitting on it. He’s got his legs pulled up and bent at the knees with his arms languidly resting on his knees, which only accentuates his already large biceps under his hoodie. 

He could imagine what they look like under it, but Louis’ doesn’t allow himself to go down that lane, not when Harry says specific little words that snap him right out of it.

“_Stuck?_” Louis raises a brow and his voice gets an octave higher than normal, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, yeah,” Harry says like it’s obvious, yet without that condescending undertone Louis’ used to hearing after asking dumb questions. The taller one taps the remaining space on his coat he’s left beside him, silently asking Louis to sit next to him.

Louis obliges. Because his knees are starting to hurt from standing up and sitting down on a warm coat seems more inviting than being on his feet. He sits down cross legged beside him, leaving a slim of space between each other, and leans his back against the wall.

“I had to take off some snow that piled up in front of the door so that I could manage to open it without having snow all over the floor,” Harry explains. He’s also fiddling with the hair tie on his bun, pulling at it before it eventually is out of his hair, revealing a fucking mane of curly hair. It’s very mesmerizing to watch, and Harry rakes his fingers through his hair in a lazy attempt at settling it before pulling his beanie back on his head.

“The blizzard is still pretty strong, I think it’s actually just starting, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we’d get stuck inside because of the snow keeping us in,” He continues, and this is _not_ what Louis wanted to hear. 

Granted, there was a part of him that already knew he’d be staying here for a while. But to have someone actually confirm it made it ten times more daunting than it already was. They could literally be stuck here for a week, if not more, and Louis doubts people can actually survive conditions like this; being stuck inside a freezing cabin, with little to no decent food, and he can imagine how little sleep he’ll get due to the lack of a decent bed to sleep on, if it ends up being the case. Which will most likely happen.

Louis starts freaking out again. 

His fingers are pulling on a loose thread on his leggings, and he can feel his heart rate speed up as Harry goes on. Louis is trying to control his breathing and trying to prevent himself from having his umpteenth breakdown, and it’s not really working in his favor.

He’s stranded. Fucking stranded in the middle of fucking nowhere, and he’s scared, _so_ fucking scared for what could happen to him, to them, if the blizzard doesn’t cease.

Harry must’ve sensed him panicking beside him because there’s suddenly a comforting hand on Louis’ knee, and it momentarily calms him down a bit.

“Hey,” Harry gently pulls him out of his thoughts, and Louis turns his head to see reassuring eyes staring right back at him, “It’s alright. These things happen sometimes, and I know it won’t take that long for the snow to stop falling and eventually melt off.”

Louis wants to believe him, he really does, but the bottom line is that Harry’s a stranger he literally just met not even an hour ago, so it’s pretty hard for him to trust someone he hardly even knows. It’s been hard enough for Louis to trust anyone, actually, and as much as he wants to believe this fantasy that everything will be okay, there’s a little voice in his head that makes his walls shoot right up.

He feels a squeeze above his knee. Harry’s looking back at him, same reassuring look on his face.

“I promise you,” He insists, “We’ll be okay.”

Louis surprises himself by actually believing him this time. Only a little, but it’s a lot more than at first, and Louis feels himself relax his shoulders that he didn’t even realize were so tense. That weird ache he had on his shoulder is back, probably from a combination of leaning his back against the wall and being so fucking tense, and it’s uncomfortable. Louis’ attempts at soothing it seem to do little to help.

“So,” He hears Harry say, “What brings you here? You’re from the north, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Louis answers, dropping his hand from his still aching shoulder, “I’m living in London, but yeah, I’m from Doncaster.”

Harry chuckles, “Should’ve known, the accent gave it away.”

Louis raises a brow.

“My accent is just fine,” He folds his arms in front of his chest, “How about yours, then? Not from around here either?”

“Cheshire,” He proudly states, “And your accent is lovely, best one in Donny, I’m sure.”

Louis scoffs, but there’s still a warm feeling at the lowest pit of his stomach as well as at the top of his cheekbones, “Definitely top ten material.”

It’s nice to have a light chuckle with someone. Louis feels like it’s the first time since he arrived down here that he’s genuinely smiled, and he likes how he momentarily forgot about their current situation.

“Don’t doubt it all,” Harry leaves it at that, “London’s quite far off, though. How’d you end up in this place?”

Louis’ face falls into an uncomfortable frown. He isn’t liking being faced with reality. He’s still hoping he’s stuck in a weird nightmare, and that he’ll eventually wake up in his cabin. But deep down, he knows this is all real and the uncertainty of it all, one thing he never really considered a bad thing during his adventures, was now the reason he’s scared for his life. Harry doesn’t look half as stressed as he does, and Louis wonders if he’s on drugs or if that’s how he actually is, but there’s really no doubt that Harry’s calm energy is helping him not overthink himself into insanity. 

“I, uh,” Louis hesitates, “I needed some time away from home and my best mates found me this retreat. Ended up getting lost in a hike, but thankfully found this cabin, and...here we are now.”

Harry doesn’t notice Louis’ hesitation, or if he does, he’s doing a good job on not making Louis feel any more uncomfortable than he already does by commenting on it. 

“You got lost?” Louis is embarrassed, but he still confirms it with a nod. “Where exactly are you staying?”

“Pine Groves Cabins,” The smaller one answers, not missing the surprised look on Harry’s face, that doesn’t inspire much confidence in him at all.

“I know that place, been up there a few times already,” He recalls, “It’s a bit far off, though. You’ve walked quite a bit to get here; I didn’t even know this part crossed with their trails.”

“Yeah, I think I went down the wrong way, or something. Definitely not Pine Groves trails, that’s for sure.”

“Must’ve been distracted by all the trees and snow, hm?” 

Harry’s smiling, and there’s a teasing undertone behind what he says, and in any normal circumstance, Louis would’ve laughed along and made a stupid joke back, but it doesn’t sit quite right with him. He was distracted, is the thing, but he _was_ distracted by his own stupid thoughts that left a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach and because of them, he’s fucking stranded in a cabin.

“Yeah,” Louis fakes a smile, and looks away from Harry’s piercing green eyes, “Something like that.”

Louis’ discomfort must’ve been obvious. There’s an uncomfortable silence falling between them, undeniably caused by Louis. It’s painfully awkward, and he doesn’t even need to look at Harry to know he’s probably confused at the change of energy in the room, and he honestly feels horrible about it, especially since Harry has been nothing but nice to him.

“Ehm, sorry about hitting you earlier,” Louis tries to break the awkwardness. A smile reappears on Harry’s face, and it somehow feels like a relief that he’s not upset, “I thought you were a bear, or something like that.”

Harry raises his brows, “I don’t know if I should applaud you for having the balls to fight a bear, or to lecture you that you shouldn’t be going around hitting bears. You could’ve gotten seriously hurt, y’know.”

“I mean...” Louis blushes at the realization, “When you put it that way…”

So he might’ve not really thought it through. But, give credit where credits due, Louis still managed to defend himself from a stranger, so who’s the real winner here?

“It was self-defense!” He tries to justify himself, sitting up to accentuate his statement. “I think I deserve some credit for at least standing up for myself...”

Harry raises his hands, “Alright, alright. It’s very brave of you for standing up to bears, but I don’t think there’s any around here for you to fight, actually.”

“Well, I don’t even know where I am,” Louis slumps against the wall, “How am I supposed to know what evil beings lurk around here?”

“Bears aren’t evil beings,” Harry defends. Louis shoots him an uncertain glare. “Plus, I know there aren’t many animals around here. Maybe a few deer, but that’s about it.”

“How many times have you been around here?” The shorter one asks.

“A few times,” He shrugs, “Came here first because of a gig I got a few years ago. I got booked to be a wedding photographer, and I ended up liking the place more than I thought I would. Didn’t get the chance to explore those trails, so I ended up coming here a few more times to take some pictures and go hiking.”

Louis perks up at the mention of photography.

“Somehow, that doesn’t surprise as much as I thought it would,” Louis says, earning a smile from Harry.

“I’ve always liked coming on hikes,” He continues, “And it’s a good thing I’ve been around here a few times, enough to know my way around, or else I’d be screwed. I had no idea the blizzard was coming this early, and I was too far from the hostel I’m staying at to go back, but thankfully I wasn’t too far off this cabin for shelter. Didn’t know I’d get smacked for intruding, though.”

Louis’ tempted to smack him again. He does, however, fight the urge, and pretends he didn’t hear the last sentence. It’s better for the both of them.

“So, you’re here for work?” Louis asks. He moves around so he’s sitting with his legs against his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees. His chest feels warm now, and so do his knees, but there’s still a chill running down his body. Louis’ pretty sure his toes have gone purple by now.

“No,” Harry answers, “I do freelance now, and so my schedule is more flexible, and I have the time to travel and do my own thing, y’know, take some pictures mostly for myself.”

And this time, Louis doesn’t even hide his enthusiasm. He’s positive his face lights up with excitement and the grin comes naturally. 

“I love travelling!” Louis beamed, “I don’t travel as much as I want to, but I really love exploring and visiting new places as much as I can! I like taking pictures, too, but my camera is too old, so I mostly just use my phone.”

“That’s still good,” Harry grins right back at him. “Where’s the last place you visited? I’d love to see some pictures, if you have any.”

Louis unwraps his arms from his knees and doesn’t think twice before going through his bag to search for his phone, “I have a few, but I’m not a professional like you, so be nice or you’re getting smacked again.”

“Wouldn’t want to risk it,” He hears him say. Good. 

“I went to Brighton with my, uh, ex boyfriend a couple of months ago,” Louis mumbles as he pulls his phone out and quickly thumbs his passcode before going through his pictures. He’s glad he deleted every picture he had with Keegan after a few glasses of wine. Sober Louis has zero regrets. 

He quickly finds the photo album of his trip, in between albums containing embarrassing pictures of Liam to use against him, and turns back over so his back is leaning against the wall and he’s holding his phone between them.

“It was pretty nice. We went to a few-” Harry leans into Louis’ side to get a better view of the phone. Their shoulders are now full on touching, and if Louis were to spread his legs just a little, he’s sure their knees would be touching as well. 

Harry’s in his space. They’re in contact with each other, and Louis doesn’t even have to be paying close attention to hear Harry’s quiet breathing, or the soft chuckles he gives as he scrolls through Louis’ pictures. Harry’s body warmth is radiating onto Louis as he tries to calm himself down, and he hates how his body just leans onto Harry’s side. 

“You went to a few, what?” Harry asks, taking his eyes off the phone to look at the blue eyed nervous wreck for the first time since he started looking at the pictures.

“Uh,” He stutters, and mentally slaps himself while he’s at it, “Flea markets, uh, local spots, the whole lot.”

Harry hums, his finger swiping and occasionally zooming in on certain pictures. It’s quiet in the cabin, with the exception of Harry’s ocasional hums of appreciation and little comments he’d make. It mostly ranged from how delicious the food looked or how great the sight was, and Louis is having a hard time not letting the compliments get up to his head.

“S’nothing much,” He’d say, always with a tint of pink on his face.

More scrolling ensues, and at one point, Harry has his hand on Louis’ phone. He doesn’t even notice it happening, how his phone is suddenly taken over by Harry and his stupid enourmous hands, and it’s Louis who’s leaning over his shoulder now.

To be honest, Louis might be paying more attention to Harry’s face more than the actual pictures, as he reacts to every picture he scrolls through. Harry’s very observant, too, and luckily too engrossed in looking in depth at the pictures Louis’ showing him to even notice Louis’ blatant ogling.

“You look cute here.” Harry smiles, and before Louis hears what he says, he sees the smile and crinkles by his eyes. He should’ve known that was a bad sign.

Louis glances down at the picture Harry’s showing him and it’s one that Keegan actually took of him. They’d been out for lunch at this lovely restaurant and, in a very Louis like manner, he ended up getting some tiramisu smeared all over his mouth. Keegan had asked to take a picture of him and, unbeknownst to the mess on his chin, Louis smiled like an idiot to pose for it. 

He didn’t quite understand what was so funny about it until Keegan showed him how he looked, and he definitely didn’t think it was worth a laugh.

“Oh god,” Louis groans and hides his face behind his hands, “I forgot I left that stupid picture in there, jesus.”

“It’s quite flattering,” Harry tries to keep a serious look on his face, but there’s an obvious grin urging to break out and it’s very annoying, if Louis is honest. “The lighting and angle is really working for you. And I’m a professional, so I’d know.”

“_God_,” Louis rolls his eyes and snatches the phone out of Harry’s massive hands. (_What’re they so massive for?_), “I shouldn’t have showed you these if I knew you’d make fun of me.”

“C’mon, Lou,” Harry chuckles, “These are good, really good, actually. Not everyone can look good with tiramisu all over their face, either.”

Lou.

It surprises him to hear Harry call him by a nickname, the nickname his close friends and family usually go for - if not the horrible ‘boobear’ his mum started to call him, a nickname he hates to admit he secretly loves - considering they’ve only met probably over an hour ago. It feels natural, though, even if it surprises him, and Louis lets himself smile.

Well. Until he realizes what Harry says right after. 

“Don’t make me go grab the plank,” Louis threatens, not that Harry takes his attempt of a threat seriously, “Anyways, thank you. I’m really not all that great at taking pictures, but I really can’t help myself when I go someplace new.”

“I feel you,” Harry nods along as he zips his bag open, carefully pulling out his fancy looking camera before pressing a button to turn it on. “I love taking pictures for a number of reasons, but I think the best part of the whole thing is that I’m able to go through my older pictures and have all these memories from those moments come back to me.”

He puts the camera against his eye and points at Louis, and before the shorter one can even react, he hears a ‘click’, and Harry’s smiling down at the screen of his camera.

“And I don't think I want to forget about the day I got stranded in a cabin with a pretty stranger,” he finishes off. 

It’s a little surreal, the whole situation.

Harry doesn’t even seem fazed by his own words, as if being a charming bloke was natural to him, which Louis doesn’t even doubt. He’s smooth with his words, and he’s left Louis with staining cheeks more times that he can actually count and, what even is this man?

“Can I see your pictures?” Louis is quick to change the subject, mostly because he doesn’t even know how to react that’s more acceptable than squealing or screaming.

“Sure!” Harry agrees, letting his eyes linger on Louis and his flushed cheeks a second longer before pulling out his camera. It’s big and expensive looking, even without the lens on, and Louis already knows Harry’s pictures must have an amazing quality to them. It looked quite recent too, and Louis wonders how many cameras he has back at home. At least another three or four, considering his job.

As expected, Harrys’ pictures are amazing. His memory card is filled up with different scenes of mostly nature, and occasional people here and there. He’s definitely got an eye for a good composition without making them look cliché and tacky, and Louis’ favorite part of it all has to be the little backstories Harry gives on some of them. The story of a bird taking a shit on Harrys’ hair during a very focused wildlife shoot he had that startled him and made the deer he was trying to snap a picture of run off was hilarious, and even the shaky picture of the deer running off looked good, better than what Louis could do, that’s for sure.

They do this for a while, sit close together to look at Harrys’ pictures and listen to the stories and little anecdotes the taller one had about them, long enough for then not ro realize how cold it’s gotten since then.

The realization only hits them when Louis starts scrunching his face in a frown as he feels that familiar tingling sensation right at the tip of his nose, and he covers it with wrist before sneezing. At least he’s graceful enough not to sneeze all over Harry’s expensive equipment.

Louis only realizes how close they’re sitting together when he feels his body lose warmth when he pulls away to sneeze. A shiver runs through him, and he’s not as subtle as he’d like to be, because Harry puts his camera down and has his brows furrowed together in worry.

“Are you cold?” He asks, and Louis tries to get himself to stop fucking shivering, but Harry’s already noticed, and Louis is so ridiculously stubborn at times.

“What?” His teeth clank together, and it’s taking everything and more to get his jaw to stop constantly twitching. Clenching it doesn’t do much to help; it probably does a worse job with the whole act Louis was trying to pull - the one where he’s really not that cold and he definitely won’t freeze himself to death in the next ten minutes - but he still does and hopes there’s no comments about how he looks like he’s constipated. 

Harry doesn’t seem like the type, anyways.

“I-I’m fine,” Louis insists, and he’s trying his fucking hardest to not let the shivering slip through his voice, but it’s already a lost cause even before he tries.

His trembling is a dead give away, as if Harry hadn’t seen right through his pointless stubborn act already, and the taller lad picks up his bag again and rummages through it, pulling out a flashlight and a first-aid box, before he reaches inside and pulls out a soft looking grey sweater. It’s pretty basic looking, and the only things Louis takes note of is how large it looks as Harry unfolds it. He can already tell how warm the material is.

“Here,” Harry hands him over the sweater, “Put this on. Don’t want you to go ahead and freeze on me.”

Louis does the opposite. He crosses his arms over his chest - if he deliberately does that, he wasn’t too sure - and raises a brow at the soft material in Harry’s large hand.

“You’ve had a sweater in your bag this entire time and you’re not wearing it?” 

Harry just shrugs, “I’m used to the cold, I guess. I brought it as a spare in case it got too cold outside, but you look like you need it more than I do.”

It’s true. Louis doesn’t think Harry’s even shivered once the entire time they’ve been stuck in this cabin, and it wasn’t because he had more layers on than Louis. Maybe Harry had on those thermal undershirts, the one that helps to maintain a normal body temperature. Louis probably should’ve looked into those before coming here. He wouldn’t be half as much of a shivering mess if he had one of those, that’s for sure. 

Louis hesitates to grab the sweater, but Harry’s there carrying a warm smile that only spreads wider once Louis gets over himself and takes it from him. He immediately senses how warm the sweater is in his palms, and after pulling it to his lap and unraveling it from the surprisingly tidy way it was folded, (considering it’s been in Harry’s bag for quite a while, Louis is assuming), he’s delighted to see how oversized the sweater is, at least to him. He’s positive it’d be a perfect fit on Harry, but Louis isn’t half as big and buff as the taller lad, so he knows he’ll be swimming in it. Sounds like the opposite of a problem, actually. 

Louis looks up to say something about it, a silly joke he just thought about in the moment , but Harry already has his eyes on him and it’s just so…overwhelming. The way he’s looking at Louis is so genuine and caring that Louis can’t quite rub off the blush warming up his face. 

He’s been blushing an awful lot since Harry rampaged into his life, and it doesn’t lessen any bit when Harry’s sitting right next to him, insisting Louis wear his sweater. He spares Harry a timid glance, only to get a warm smile back, before taking off his coat that, at this point, felt like it was hardly helping Louis warm up, and sliding the sweater over his head.

Louis knew the sweater would be warm; he could literally feel how nice and cozy it felt just by the touch of his hands, but it doesn’t begin to compare when it’s finally on him. It looks ridiculously large on his smaller frame, the neckline hangs lower than he expected, and Louis is sure it’d be close to hanging off his shoulder if he pulled it to the side enough. The sleeves are baggy on his arms and long enough to give him sweater paws, which works for him considering his lack of gloves. The best part, however, is how the sweater reaches his mid thighs. It’s warm, a million times warmer than his own clothes, and to top it all off, it smells so fucking good.

He gets a waft as he dresses himself with it, and it’s the worst how the neckline isn’t close to his nose at all so he can’t discreetly take a whiff of the sweet vanilla cologne and...Harry, if that made any sense. Of course, that doesn’t really stop him, anyways, and Louis brings his sweater paws to his nose, taking in how lovely it smells.

“Are you sniffing my sweater?” Harry asks, and the chuckle that comes with his question shows he’s clearly not that bothered by Louis’ weird antics, but it doesn’t make Louis any less embarrassed by getting confronted. 

“Just checking it doesn’t smell bad,” Louis tries to save himself, “M’fraid it failed the test, though. I think you could benefit from using a different detergent.”

Louis has always appreciated his own quick wit, sense of humor, and obnoxious sarcasm, but it takes one look at Harry and his raised brow to realize that maybe he wasn't as convincing as he thought he was. Liam hardly ever saw right through his sarcasm, but the thought of Liam just going along with it to keep Louis happy crosses his mind now that Harry clearly didn’t fall for it and he’s not sure how to feel about that.

Liam’s a good friend, that’s for sure.

“Personally, I wouldn’t shove my nose in something that doesn’t smell that great,” Harry provides, “Unless, you know, it actually smells pretty good.”

“It doesn’t,” Louis shoves his hands down and crosses them over his chest, “and it’s easier if you just face the facts.”

Harry throws his arm around Louis’ shoulders, so smoothly Louis hardly realizes what’s happening until Harry’s pulling him closer to his body. It takes Louis enough by surprise that the snarky comment forming on his tongue slips away into the quietest groan that has ever slipped past his lips.

“New detergent it is, then,” Harry decides, his hand softly rubbing Louis’ arm as if to warm it up. It works, and the heat spreads all the way to the pit of his stomach and the high points of his cheeks, “Hope the nasty smell won’t bother you too much.”

“I think I can manage,” Louis says, and he definitely doesn’t miss the low mumble of laughter coming from the tall man who’s holding him tightly, cuddling him and warming him up.

It’s nice. It feels nice.

  
—-

  
It’s been a few hours, or at least that’s what it feels like, and the weather still doesn’t seem like it’s getting any better.

The wind is still blowing loudly outside, occasionally making the front door of the cabin creak and shake - which initially freaked the fuck out of Louis, but he’s now used to the eery sound - and, from peeking out of the window, heavy snow was still falling down. It all looked so aggressive that, even though Louis could feel the cold from outside seep through his clothes, he was beyond thankful he stumbled upon this little cabin, and more so for being stuck in here with someone who made it their personal mission to keep Louis alive and warm.

Harry had been amazing company so far. He’s been nothing but charming, polite, and ridiculously funny, and has done a pretty good job at making their current situation more tolerable.

He’s very selfless, too, and as they were chatting about their lives back at home, (which mostly consisted of Harry talking about his lovely mum and older sister he hasn’t seen in a few months, and Louis telling him about Liam and Niall, and how he loves them dearly, even though he’s a proper brat most of the times), Louis’ tummy started to grumble mid-conversation, and Harry didn’t even hesitate to offer him some much needed food.

It shouldn’t come off as a surprise how Harry had packed mostly, if not all, healthy food, and Louis almost wants to laugh when Harry offers him kale chips, carrots and a colourful fruit salad. He loses it when Harry pulls out a protein shake.

“Of course you brought all this healthy shit,” Louis rolls his eyes before popping a kale chip in his mouth and munching on it.

“Well, yeah,” Harry picks up a baby carrot, “It’s really important to bring food packed with nutrients for trips like these. I brought twice as much as I usually pack because of the blizzard; I knew it was bound to come any day now, and the last thing I wanted to do was starve in case I wouldn’t have access to food and, well, I couldn’t exactly bring full meal of steak with mashed potatoes.”

Louis hums and picks up some fruit, “You could’ve at least packed some chocolate bars, or summat. I’m running low here, Harold.”

“My name isn’t even Harold, Lewis,” Harry contends.

“That’s not how to pronounce my name,” Louis frowns. It’s difficult to take him seriously when he’s plopping a perfectly cut square of mango into his mouth.

Harry ignores him, “And to be fair, I didn’t know I'd be stranded in a cabin with a cute boy with a sweet tooth for chocolate. I would’ve been more prepared, if only I knew.”

Louis could’ve missed the compliment if he hadn't been paying attention, but he was, and he almost choked on his piece of mango. He’s sure Harry has no idea what a filter is, and Louis isn’t quite used to how straight forward he is. He appreciates people who don’t beat around the bush, but Harry’s a different species, he’s sure of it.

In between eating Harry’s healthy food and Louis mocking how much of a hippy he is, they eventually get satiated. There’s still a lot of food left, and Louis helps Harry pack it back up in his thermal bag before naturally going back to their cuddling, where Harry kept an arm around Louis’ waist and Louis leaned his head on Harry’s shoulder, legs tucked against his chest and resting on Harry’s thigh.

It’s all comfortable. The way they’re cuddling together, the idle and much quieter chat they share when they’re settled, feels so natural to Louis. Maybe it was due to how well he and Harry were getting on, because Louis doesn’t really feel any awkwardness of cuddling with a stranger. 

Louis frowns. 

Harry isn’t a stranger anymore, and he doesn’t quite feel like an acquaintance. He feels like a friend, but even calling him that doesn’t seem right. 

Louis is thinking too much, and he knows it. Their conversation soon dies down to a comfortable silence, probably because Harry notices how quiet Louis has gone. Louis is tired, really tired after the day he’s had, and it’s finally settling down on his body. It doesn’t help that he feels the warmest he’s been all day, with Harry’s sweater, his arm around him, and his fucking radiator body heating him up, and it’s practically inevitable to fall asleep.

Harry’s gently rubbing his side, warm hand spreading from his waist to his ribs, and Louis is so tired. His eyes slip closed. The last thing he feels is a hand pulling him closer to the source of heat, and he feels his head get tucked under a chin, but he’s too tired to react, and eventually drifts off to sleep.

  
\----

When Louis wakes up, the first thing he feels is coldness hitting his back. He’s groggy and disoriented, and there’s a knot on his neck from having his head on Harry’s shoulder. Harry’s arm is still wrapped as tightly around his waist to the point where it’s physically impossible to be sitting next to each other any closer.

Louis wants to go back to sleep, but it’s too fucking cold, and the moving around he does to steal some warmth from Harry does next to nothing except for alerting Harry that the smaller one woke up from his nap.

“Morning,” Harry quietly mumbles. His hand on Louis’ waist goes back to rubbing gently, cooing him awake all while trying to keep him warm.

“Why’s it so fucking cold?” Louis sleepily groans. There’s a part of him that wants to cuddle back up again, and it’s so fucking chilly inside that Louis doesn’t even hesitate to get comfortable and actually throw an arm around the taller one. He doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, Harry even puts his arm over Louis’. It helps, but Louis’ still fucking freezing.

“Blizzard’s getting stronger,” Harry answers, and Louis can hear the strain in Harrys’ voice. His hands are trembling, too, and it’s the first time during this entire day he’s seen him break a shiver. That’s when Louis knows shit’s getting real.

Immediately, and without much thinking, Louis tightens his hold on Harry and pulls his legs over his thighs, practically sitting sideways on his lap. He’s tucking his face on the nape of the taller ones neck, and suddenly there’s arms around him, holding him tightly and pressing him against Harrys’ chest.

“Feels better,” Harry mumbles. Louis can feel his chest rise as he’s breathing, and his shivers have gone considerably lower, so that’s a relief.

“Yeah,” Louis agrees, and tucks his head impossibly further into the nape of his neck. His nose is fucking freezing, and it’s not his fault Harry’s sweater is the perfect heater for it. Harry smells good, too, so if he indulges himself in a whiff or two, that’s none other but his own business.

It’s a good thing the cuddling is helping them. There’s still parts of Louis’ body that feel like literal ice cubes, but then there’s other parts that are being warmed up by Harry, and Louis has never been so thankful to have him beside him. After everything he’s been through, he’s glad he came across a charming, painfully punny silver lining, and he’s even more thankful for the lack of awkwardness when it’s impossible for Louis to be sitting any closer without literally being on his lap. That felt like a desperate measure that wouldn’t be needed at all. 

Maybe. For now.

They aren’t saying much. There’s a comfortable silence looming over them, probably due to how busy they are trying to steal each others body warmth. Louis’ feet are freezing in his boots, and he can feel how tense Harry feels from under him, trying to fight off the cold. 

It’s hard to relax when the wind outside keeps getting stronger and louder, occasionally making Louis squeak, and jolting both of them on their quiet spot. Louis doesn’t even want to peek outside the window anymore. There’s no need to when the wind has only roared louder each minute that went by, and it goes without saying that they’re not leaving this cabin in weather like this. 

They’ll wait for as long as they have to, but it gets hard when, at this point, they’re both shivering in each others arms with no certainty as to for how long.

“Louis?” Harry breaks the silence. Louis doesn’t want to look up from where his head is perfectly tucked in. He spent almost half an hour getting into this perfect position and he doesn’t want to lose it.

“Hm?” Louis grunts into Harry’s sweater. He didn’t even want to turn his head so the taller one could hear his voice clearer. He’s not about to risk getting cold for it. 

“Tell me something,” He says after a beat of silence. 

“What do you want to hear?” Louis asks, voice leaning on groggy. “I hope you’re aware that you’re giving me too much liberty to say whatever comes up in my mind. No filter, whatsoever. And it’s all on you.”

Harry snorts, “I was thinking more along the line of what’s your favorite colour, or maybe your first pet name, but I’ll take my chances.”

For this, Louis doesn’t mind getting raising his head and potentially freezing his nose off. He eyes Harry, and even goes as far as raising his brow as the taller one expectantly looks back, and Louis loses it.

He laughs right in Harrys’ face. He doesn’t even try to hold back the giggles escaping his lips, and the speechless look on Harry’s face just makes him want to laugh even more.

“What’re you laughing about?” Harry squeezes Louis’ waist.

Louis covers his lips with his mouth in a very bad attempt to stop giggling. It works, kind of.

“S’nothing,” He hiccups a giggle, “Just wasn’t expecting such a mundane topic of conversation.”

“Well I’m trying to distract us, keep the conversation flowing,” Harry explains, “S’better than hearing our teeth clanking, anyways.”

“And you think knowing my favorite colour will keep the conversation going?” Louis raises a brow, yet with a teasing smirk playing on his face.

“Do you have any better suggestions?” Harry’s hand drops to Louis’ thigh, and from the way Louis is sitting, his hands land higher up, and Louis isn’t sure if it was on purpose or not. It feels nice, and having Harry’s warm gloved hand gently run up and down through his thigh feels even better. 

After a very short deliberation with his brain, Louis realizes that no, for the first time in his life (which isn’t an exaggeration, or so he likes to think), Louis doesn’t have a better idea, and it turns out alright, because Louis talks about his childhood hamster named Kitty, (“_Now that’s an original name,_” Harry had said), and his kitten that’s still in Doncaster with his mum, Mittens.

_“I figured you’d name the poor kitten something related to hamsters.”_

_“Now why would you think that?”_

Harry mentions the only cat he’s ever had and he’s happy to announce, with a heavy heart, that Elvis Catsley is also back at home with his mum. She sends him pictures of their cat as often as she can, and Harry uses this as an excuse to go through only his top fifty photos of Elvis sleeping in weird positions or simply looking cute as fuck. Louis doesn’t complain, and he almost starts crying over how cute Elvis is.

From what started as those cliché and overdone first date questions, that Louis couldn’t even think of them as such without feeling a burn on his cheeks, their conversation drifted towards less laughter over punny cat names and family reunions, and into something more serious. Vulnerable, even, and Louis worries of where this conversation can lead them to.

“And yeah, I mean, my family’s always been pretty supportive of my job. My dad was even the one who got me into photography in the first place. So with them, I never really had a problem with it. Mum loves it every time I take the camera to any family get together, actually.”

“So what was holding you back?” Louis curiously asked. There’s an evident uncomfortable frown framing Harrys’ face, and Louis doesn’t feel good about putting him in such an uncomfortable spot. It’s times like these where he hates being such a curious little cat. 

“Dated someone who was never really supportive of it,” Harry starts, and he couldn’t look any more tense if he tried. It’s definitely different to see him like this. So far, he always had at least a polite smile on his face, but now his brows were furrowed and jaw clenched as he opened up about a part of his past he was clearly bothered about, with all the right reasons to be.

“He was great and all, and we hadn’t been dating for that long either, but I really loved him at the time. At least I think I did.”

He. 

Harry’s gay. Or bi, or pan, or whatever. Louis feels his heart beat faster at the mention. He tries to keep a poker face as Harry, as nonchalant and he always is, slips in that he was in a previous relationship with a man. He definitely doesn’t want to ruin and take Harry’s vulnerable moment and make it into something else, so he does the right thing and listens.

“Now that I think about it, it was probably more of an infatuation than love, actually,” Harry ponders. “But I know for sure I was pretty smitten by him. It took a lot of sitting through snarky comments and undervaluing my work for me to realize he wasn’t that great for me, so I left him and haven’t had anything serious since then.”

“I’m sorry you had someone like that in your life,” Louis condolences. He can feel the frustration in Harrys’ voice. He’s sure Harry gave him a very simplified version of his previous relationship, most likely to save himself the heartache. 

“Thanks,” Harry weakly smiles, “S’all in the past now. Can’t be thinking too much about shit like this.”

Louis admires his positive attitude towards how his life turned out, and could only wish he could relate. Louis’ an overthinker and he should win an award for holding grudges on people for years on end. 

“Uh, Lou?” Harry hesitantly asks. He looks mildly uncomfortable, which only piques Louis’ curiosity, along with some anxiety of what’s about to come out of Harrys’ mouth, that has him looking so nervous about.

“Yes?” 

Harry’s brows are furrowed and he’s looking like he’s mentallly debating himself over something, and Louis isn't sure if he should be worried. Instead, he puts his hand over Harrys’ on top of his thigh, squeezing it, and urging him to speak.

“Louis, why did you come here after all?” Harry cautiously asks,“I mean, you said you needed to get away from home, and your friends found you this retreat, but...why?”

He should’ve been expecting this conversation to be brought up again, especially after being shut inside the cabin for many hours with Harry. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable would come, but Louis gets caught in surprise with how much quicker it happens.

“I mean,” Harry backtracks, from taking just one look at Louis’ face, “You don’t have to say, obviously, I-”

There’s a burning feeling coming from inside of Louis, one he can’t quite put his finger on. He’s uncomfortable, awkward, and angry that this stupid topic was being brought up, and above all, he hates how this completely innocent, yet mildly invasive, question makes him feel. The words get caught up in his throat as he bites his lower lip. He’s lacking in the nail department, mostly caused by the insatiable and annoying habit that doesn’t allow him to grow them out, but that doesn’t stop him from nervously picking on whatever he’s left to have.

But Louis has grown tired of this. He’s tired of having the mere thought of stupid Keegan leave a sick feeling in his tummy. It’s exhausting and honestly not even worth the pain. If there’s one thing he came here for, it was to get over that pathetic loser, or at least get some damn peace of mind, and what better way than to talk about his issues with Harry.

He trusted him. 

“No,” Louis interrupts him, “I, uh. I think I should just get it off of my chest.”

“Louis,” Harry’s brows furrow in worry. He reaches his hand out to place on Louis’ thigh comfortingly. “You really don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I was just being a curious idiot. Don’t mind me.”

If Louis wasn’t practically shitting himself from how nervous he was to open up to Harry about his luggage, he’d most likely have it in him to tease him, tell him that _yes_, he was being a curious idiot, but the atmosphere was heavy around them, and it didn’t feel like the right time for jokes.

“It’s fine,” Louis waves off. He lets his hand fall on top of Harrys’, and there’s a second of Louis squeezing it before Harry turns his over and locks their fingers together, resting on top of Louis’ thigh. It’s comfortable, relaxing, and exactly what Louis needed. 

“Well, you already know I needed some time away from home,” Louis starts. He glances at Harry, not even realizing he couldn’t even keep his eyes on him. Harry only nods along, silently asking Louis to continue. He still has that genuine, caring look on his face that confirms to Louis he’s doing the right thing.

“I, uhm, I’ve just been through a pretty horrible break up, actually,” Louis finally confesses. Harrys’ brows raise slightly, but makes the wise decision of letting Louis speak his mind. “It fucking did my head in, if I’m perfectly honest. I was the one always putting in that extra effort and being patient and calm, and yet I was still the one getting broken up with. The fucking audacity.”

Louis gets swarmed with memories of Keegan, the good and the bad, as he starts talking about his break up. They leave a bad taste in his mouth, and he hates having to relive perhaps the worst he’s ever been, emotionally. Harry still doesn’t say anything. He’s letting Louis say whatever needs to be said, and Louis is grateful for the space he’s giving.

“That fucking loser left me feeling so pathetic. He kicked me out, and I have no family in London, so I went to my best friends’ flat, and all I’ve been fucking doing is watching shit telly and finishing Liam’s ice cream tubs and Nialls’ wine his stupid boss gives him.”

“And my friends, _God_ I love them so much. They offered me their couch with so much hospitality, I could’ve cried right then and there if I wasn’t crying about that stupid cunt already. They were so supportive, too, always there to listen no matter what, and even told me to take a few days off of work when I felt like absolute shit.”

Harry’s still listening, and occasionally squeezing his fingers with Louis’ whenever the shorter one looks like he’s about to lose his goddamn mind.

“This went on for weeks, me being on their couch all day getting drunk by myself and wishing I was half as good as those Bake Off cooks, and y’know, my best mates told me it hurt to see me like this. They were real sneaky about it, but they somehow managed to prepare a very elaborate powerpoint and convincing speech to show me how much I needed a change of scenery and a few days later, here I am. They said the trails and all the hiking would do me some good, but I definitely didn’t think getting stuck in a cabin in the middle of fucking nowhere was a part of it.”

There’s a sad smile on Harrys’ face at Louis’ failed attempt at lightening up the mood with the last little remark. 

“I’m really sorry to hear that, Louis,” Harry sincerely says, keeping a reassuring hand intertwined with his own. “How long were you and your…”

“Boyfriend,” Louis finishes off the green eyed ones sentence. “Keegan and I dated for a few years, around five, I think. Give or take…”

Louis doesn’t miss how Harry’s face slightly lights up at the mention of him previously being in a relationship with a man.

“M’sorry,” Harry says again, as if he’s the one who should be apologizing. “You definitely deserve to be treated better than what Keegan did, I know that for a fact. And you’ve got some pretty good friends, Lou.”

“Yeah, well, don’t tell them that or else it’ll go straight to their tiny brains, and I don’t want to be the one dealing with that,” Louis dismisses, picking on a loose thread on Harry’s coat sleeve. “I’m convinced they share the same braincell.”

Harry chuckles, and the air feels less tense. It’s better like this, Louis decides. Easier, too.

“Has the hiking been working?” Harry asks. He’s smiling gently at Louis, cautious with his words so the smaller one won’t take it the wrong way. 

Louis bites his lower lip and picks on a loose thread, “I mean, yeah. It was pretty relaxing and felt nice to be on my own and around nature, but I kind of ended up having a mental breakdown, and that sucked.”

Harry’s face softens, “M’sorry, Lou.”

“You don’t have to apologize, s’not your fault,” Louis brushes off. “I’m not gonna lie, it had me feeling like pure shit, but then I realized that I was basically wasting my days crying in bed when I could be out doing what I came here to do. So I went for a walk and ended up here. I haven't been mauled by a bear yet, so I guess it's better than what I expected. I mean, fucking freezing my limbs off isn’t fun at all-”

Harry squeezes Louis tighter in his arms, pulling him in closer and effectvily cutting him off after a mildly embarrassing squeal comes out of his mouth. Harry feels so warm, and it’s even better when he rubs his arms and wraps them around him. 

They’re so close together that Louis can only smell Harry’s sweet vanilla cologne and himself. It’s such a lovely mixture of feelings that he forgets what he was saying.

“Feel better?” Harry mumbles quietly. Louis nods with his head tucked in Harrys’ nape. There’s a hand spreading over Louis’ back and calmly massaging it.

The question has a double meaning, one relating to his well being and another about whether or not he feels like he’s about to turn into an ice cube. Louis realizes that they both have the same answer. 

“Yeah,” He whispers into Harry’s nape, “I feel better now.”

“Good,” Harry says. “I’m really proud that you always had getting better on your mind. I don’t know exactly what you’ve been through, but I can fully understand that you’re very strong and determined. It’s never easy to get out of a long term relationship; neither is pushing yourself out of that, but you’ve really pulled through, and I think that’s important to let you know.”

Louis blushes and feels better about himself than he has within the past few weeks. 

“Thanks,” He says. “Trust me, it really hasn’t been easy, but getting out of that relationship and having the time to process everything made me realize how much of a dick Keegan was. Can’t believe I got my head stuck in the honeymoon phase and let him get away with more than he should’ve. He looked like that cookie cutter perfect boyfriend, but I’m glad I can see who he actually was behind that mask.”

“Men,” Harry tsks, “They’re idiots.”

Louis snorts, “You got that right.”

There’s a comfortable silence. Louis feels better now that he let it all out, and feels even better that Harry was understanding, and even gave him some solid advice. It’s nice to be listened to and actually understood, instead of being patronized and have his feelings invalidated. 

“Y’know,” Harry starts. Louis raises his chin, Harry already looking back at him with a stupid smirk on his face. It should be illegal to have a smile as nice as his, but then again, is it even allowed to look this good? Louis doesn’t think so, that’s for sure.

“Hm?”

“I’m glad you decided to come on a hike today,” He says, and Louis’ tummy is already warming up with butterflies, “I’m happy I got to meet you, even if you tried to kill me at first.”

“Oh, yeah?” Louis raises his brow. He wants to come off as his usual teasing self, but ends up panning out into a less playful tone as they catch each others sights. 

“Yeah,” Harry says. His eyes flick down to Louis’ lips for a quick second before they’re back on his blue eyes, and Louis suddenly forgets how to breathe. The air feels thick around them, and the hands on Louis’ thigh and lower back suddenly become painfully obvious, and it’s all Louis can feel.

“I’m glad I got to meet you, too,” He blushes. Harry smiles and inches his face closer to his, ever so slightly, and Louis knows what this means. 

Harry wants to kiss him. 

There’s a warm, fluttery feeling going on at the bottom of Louis’ stomach, and he breathlessly watches as Harry leans closer. Louis wants to lock their lips together, his chin already automatically raising to catch their lips together. He wants to feel them on him so bad, but then...Keegan pops into his mind. 

There’s an image of his horrible ex staining his thoughts, and it’s not like he’s not over him, it’s the painful memory of being stuck in a relationship with someone who really wasn’t that good for him and left him with insecurities he never thought he’d have.

Accepting that someone likes him, in that way, turns out to be one of them.

Louis panics and looks down, tearing himself away from the penetrating, intense gaze that had him feeling all sorts of things, things that scared him shitless.

“I, uh,” Louis stutters, in an attempt to distract both of them from his hesitance, “God, my shoulder hurts so much.”

He puts a hand on the spot that’s been nothing but a hardly noticeable dull ache, pretending to soothe it with his fingers. Louis thinks he actually made things worse, because as he goes to pull his hand away, that dull ache comes back into a stinging pain on his shoulder. 

Harry looks confused, if not taken aback as to why Louis suddenly pulled away and made up a shitty excuse, but it’s Harry, so he lets go of what happened and is already hovering a hand over Louis’.

“Can I help?” He asks, like the polite charmer he is. “I’ve been told I’m pretty good with my hands.”

It’s an offer impossible to refuse and even harder to get out of.

Granted, Louis just turned down a potential kiss with Harry because he’s so fucking scared of what could happen next, but he’s too weak to deny himself out of a backrub. He definitely needed it now more than ever, and it’s his own fault for that.

He nods and turns properly on Harry’s lap, so that he’s fully sitting on his lap, back to chest. He misses the warmth of being all cuddled up against his chest, but there’s a pair of hands pressing against the spot that’s been bothering Louis ever since he stepped foot in the retreat and it’s all he can think about.

Louis can almost literally feel the knot untangle itself from his shoulder, and he’s so distracted by the methodical and relaxing works of Harry’s wonderful hands that he misses a warmth nearing the side of his neck and he only realizes it when he feels a press of plump lips against his pulse point. He snaps his eyes open, that he didn't even realize he’d closed, and there’s another soft kiss right above the first one.

He half expects himself to pull away from Harry’s warm body, but instead, he leans the back of his head to Harry’s shoulder, exposing a lot of skin for Harry to drop gentle kisses on. He sucks harder, and Louis is confident by the quiet whines slipping out of his mouth that he’s bound to have a dark red bruise or two where Harrys’ lips were, and he doesn’t exactly hate that idea. Not at all.

“Is this okay?” Harry whispers, and it takes a second for Louis to fully process what he means. _Is this okay?_ Is hooking up with someone he’s known for a whole day okay? Does he even feel like he can just throw himself at someone right now, considering his uncertainty with getting into something new?

Harry’s arms wrap themselves around Louis’ torso. His gentle hands feel warm against his clothed sides.

Yes, Louis thinks. Maybe this is good, maybe this is exactly what I need.

There’s uncertainty lacing Louis’ shrill voice as he lets Harry know this intimacy is okay. Louis turns his head to the side, allowing more space for Harrys’ lips to explore, but he wasn’t feeling anything other than Harrys’ arms unlace themselves from Louis’ torso and hands squeezing the sides of his waist. It’s a cautious yet firm touch, one that has Louis turning his head to glance at Harrys’ expression and pick his head up to look at him face to face, rather from an odd angle.

“Louis,” Harry firmly says, “I really need to know if this,” he motions his finger between them, “is okay. I know you’ve been through a lot lately and I want to know if we’re on the same page.”

Louis blinks. He shouldn’t be surprised by Harry’s attitude. If there’s anything he learnt from him from having no other choice but to talk to him, is that Harry’s a caring soul. There’s a million guys out there who’d take advantage of Louis’ vulnerability and fuck him the second after Louis consented with no questions asked. Harry, though, he’s different and Louis likes that. He likes that a lot.

“What page are you on?” Louis decides to ask. The warm hands on his waist never loosen their grip, and it comforts him. 

A shade of light red stains Harry's cheeks as he smiles, “I like you,” He confesses, “In case that wasn’t obvious enough already…”

He looks nervous as he speaks, despite the smile spread across his face. The anticipation must be killing him.

“I like you, too,” Louis finally admits, and the butterflies in his tummy are going fucking crazy inside with the way Harry’s looking at him. 

“Louis….”

Louis doesn't say anything. He just stares at Harry, losing himself with how his pupils have dilated with lust, and Louis is positive his green eyes have turned into a shade darker than normal. His eyes drop to Harrys’ lips, watching his tongue peek out to swipe his bottom lip. Louis doesn’t realize he’s biting his own bottom lip until he’s bit down too hard and feels the ache.

“Louis…” Harry mumbles again. His face is so close to Louis’, he can hear him loud and clear even as he whispers, “Can I kiss you?”

“Y-Yeah,” Louis says, and he whispers it so quietly, Harry isn't quite sure if his brain was playing tricks on him. There’s a gentle hand on Louis’ cheek, Harrys’ thumb caressing the soft skin before he’s leaning down and pressing his lips against Louis’.

It’s gentle and sweet, and Louis is having a hard time kissing Harry back without smiling and giggling. His right hand goes up and rests on Harrys’ chest, and he squeezes the fabric on Harrys’ coat when he feels his tongue press against his lips.

With a whine, Louis allows Harrys’ tongue inside, and whimpers at the feeling of their tongues slowly sliding together. Harry groans, and it goes straight to Louis’ lower stomach. Louis moves around in Harrys’ lap to get a better angle, to deepen their kiss, and he lets out the tiniest gasps when he suddenly feels a growing hardness pressing against his bum. It’s then that Harry also decides to bite down on Louis’ lower lip, and Louis could just jizz himself right then and there.

Harry’s half hard under his bum, and Louis can feel that he isn’t that far off, either. His leggings are getting slightly tighter the more Harry glides their tongues together, completely making a whiny mess out of Louis. He’s slow and tender as he’s kissing Louis, as if he’s taking every second to memorize how Louis feels, how he tastes, what he sounds like when Harry’s taking his time. And it feels so nice, all this gentleness on what could be a rushed meaningless makeout session is sending Louis into a whirlwind of emotions. 

The hand that was cradling Louis’ face lowers onto his left thigh, lightly stroking before firmly grasping it and having Louis gasp out a moan, and urging himself to desperately press their lips together harder.

Louis releases his grip on Harrys’ coat and slides his hands up to his neck. His hands are fucking freezing even though his body feels like it’s on fire, and Harry’s neck is almost better than a furnace.

He wraps his arms around his neck, and he’s not quite sure what happens, but in one second he’s on Harry’s lap with his legs thrown to one side and on the next, Harry’s gripping his thighs and moving him with ease so that Louis’ straddling him. It took minimal effort on Harrys’ side, and that itself just turns Louis on so much.

He’s got his thighs on either side of Harry, locking him in in a straddle, and has his arms wound around his neck. Harrys’ huge hands rest on his lower back and guide Louis into grinding his hips, pressing his ass against Harrys’ growing bulge. 

Louis whines into Harrys’ lips as he feels his cock press against the crease of his ass, and Harry takes it as a sign to grasp each cheek in his hands and squeeze it in the only way he knew; firmly yet still ever so gently, and Louis could barely even breathe.

“Fuck,” Harry groans as he tears his lips away from Louis’, with a lot more effort than he anticipated. “Your ass is so fucking huge, you’re so fucking pretty, Lou, fuck.”

Louis whimpers and grinds his hips in a circular motion. Harry attaches his hungry lips to Louis’ neck kissing, licking, and biting as much as he could. His hands never ceased; he’d either be kneading Louis’ thick ass or running his hands over his lower back. Either way, Louis was loving every second.

Harrys’ hands drag themselves up from Louis’ bum, this time under the layers of the clothes he’s wearing and right on top of his skin. Harrys’ hands feel warm; Louis can tell he’s not wearing his gloves anymore, but he can’t quite place when he took them off in the first place. Despite that, Louis still feels a shiver run down his spine. 

It’s exhilarating to feel Harrys’ touch on his skin, and Louis can’t even help himself from grinding harder against Harrys’ rock hard length. Their kiss is quick to become messy and wet, not that either of them mind at all. Louis only minds when Harry breaks their kiss again. His whining turns into embarrassingly high pitched moans as Harry makes a mess out of his neck. Louis is convinced there’s not a spot that doesn’t have a hickey covering it.

Louis’ mewls as Harry bites the side of his neck, licking it after to soothe it, while he brings his hands from under Louis’ sweater to take his jacket off. 

“Harry,” Louis groans as Harry drops a soft kiss on the sore spot, “W-What if I get too cold and die?”

He stops the assault on Louis’ neck and snorts once he realizes Louis was actually serious. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep you warm, baby.”

Louis isn’t completely convinced. He’s already feeling colder now that he’s out of his coat, and with one less layer to protect him from freezing completely. But he’s not going to lie and say Harrys’ words didn’t make him flush. He feels like his body has been burning ever since the first peck Harry gave him; he could only imagine the rest.

Harry’s taken his coat off, along with his beanie, and Louis sees this as the perfect opportunity to finally tangle his fingers in those lovely curls. They’re just as soft and silky, despite their own messiness and tangles. As he’d imagine, Harry seems to enjoy it as much as he is, considering the low moan seeping through his lips, and how he’s having a hard time keeping a smile at bay.

It’s nice to be able to feel Harry better now that he’s down to his sweater, and Louis isn’t shy about the way he drags his hands around Harrys’ chest and around his neck. He feels firm, like he’s not a stranger to working out, and Louis is absolutely _living_.

Their kissing is quick to turn into a desperate mess, and suddenly Louis is half naked on top of Harry. It happens very quickly, too; one second, Harry has his fingers playing with the hem of his sweater, and the next, Louis is shirtless, and his nipples almost immediately get hard with how cold it is.

Harrys’ hands are situated on Louis’ waist, holding onto him as he ravishes Louis’ mouth with his own. Of course, he can’t stay still for one fucking second, and his left hand reaches up to play with Louis’ left hardened nub. 

“M’gonna fucking freeze, H-Harold,” Louis gasps when Harry suddenly bites his nipple before running his tongue over it in an attempt to soothe it. 

His arms wrap around Louis’ waist, pulling him closer to his chest and accidentally having Louis’ grind against his hardened cock, making them both shakily moan at the contact. 

“I said I’d keep you warm,” Harry glances up at Louis’ flushed cheeks, smug smile plastered onto his dumb face. “And that’s a promise, baby.”

“Doesn’t seem like it…” Louis pouts. Harry’s not happy with an answer like that.   
His hands make home back on Louis’ ass cheeks, where he vigorously squeezes them, making Louis jolt and let out a gasp at the sensation.

“Being a brat doesn’t get you anywhere,” Harry reminds him, squeezing the shorter one’s cheeks again to accentuate what he means.

Louis has lost count of how many times he’s unintentionally moaned so far, but they keep getting higher and more embarrassing, and it doesn’t get any better when Harry’s talking to him like that, voice getting deeper by the second, and turning Louis’ legs into jell-o.

“O-Oh, yeah?” Louis is shivering, but he’s not quite sure if it’s because of the way Harrys’ piercing green eyes are staring back at him, or if it’s due to the obvious negative temperature around them.

Harry’s brows raise, probably because he wasn’t expecting Louis to talk back to him.

“Do I need to spank you, Lou?” He asks. Just the tone of Harrys’ voice itself is enough to have Louis’ tiny cock twitch under his leggings, not to mention how his hole clenches. “I think you deserve it. Talking back to me like that, being a brat. Maybe it’s time I get my revenge.”

Louis is kind of taken aback and surprised how nice and polite Harry is turning into this dominant sex god and, to be completely honest, Louis doesn’t mind it one bit. 

“Maybe next time,” He ends up saying, and Louis can’t even pretend he’s upset about waiting for a next time. However, the same exact mention that this could be happening again excites Louis, so all he’s left to do is moan as Harry plunges in for a deep kiss. 

Louis has his arms around Harry’s neck, keeping him impossibly close as his hands lock around his small waist. Their snog is nothing less than a whole mess of spit and tongues and more teeth clashing than either of them would like, but they laugh it off and carry on locking their lips together. This is hands down the warmest Louis has felt all day long.

He feels Harrys’ right arm wrap around his back, and he tightens his thighs on Harrys’ hips as he’s pushing him backwards ever so gently. They can’t seem to get their lips off each other until Louis’ naked back makes contact with the hardwood floor and squeals into Harry’s mouth, like the sex symbol he is, honestly. 

“Harry!” He tightens his hold around Harrys’ neck to prevent his back from touching the horribly cold floor. “Floor’s fucking freezing!”

“Oh, shit,” Harry curses, “Give me a second, hold on.”

Louis gets off of Harrys’ lap and immediately misses the source of heat from that human radiator. He sits with his knees tucked against his chest and arms tightly wound around them to help preserve some of the warmth as he watches Harry get on his knees and grab the first piece of fabric he sees.

It’s pretty entertaining to watch Harry lay out their coats and Louis’ discarded sweaters into a makeshift mattress, all while having a very obvious bulge at the front of his pants. It’s quite big, Louis dares to say, and he’s already feeling his mouth water with anticipation of what’s to come. 

No pun intended, of course.

Harry sits back on his calves to appreciate his hard work laying in front of him. It definitely looks like a mattress. A very short mattress, but one nonetheless. Louis’ about to make a snarky little comment about how Harry should just fuck their clothes if he’s gonna keep staring at them like that, but Harry beats him to it and replaces the brats’ comment with his lips. 

Louis moans into his mouth as Harry pulls him upwards and wraps Louis’ legs around his waist like it’s nothing. He’s got his arms around Harrys’ neck, and they tighten their hold as Harry carefully lays the shorter one down on top of an assortment of jackets, sweaters, and even undershirts. 

It’s a lot more comfortable than Louis thought it’d be, but he’s quick to distract himself with Harrys’ hardened cock grinding against his in ways that has his breath caught up in his throat. Holding back moans is proving to be a harder task, and Louis wants to feel embarassed by how fucking loud he’s been so far, but he can’t find it in him to care. Not when Harry’s got his hands gripping his thighs and leaving a copious amount of love bites across his neck, at least. 

Louis whines as Harrys’ lips leave his stained neck only to drop sweet pecks as he goes down Louis’ rising chest, stopping at his perky right nipple to tease around it with his tongue. Louis squirms under him and gets impatient with how painfully slow Harry’s being with it. It’s fucking torture, that’s for sure.

Harry finally flicks the raised nub once with his tongue before raising his head at Louis’ own flushed face. He’s about to ask Harry why he stopped, if the words could even manage to get out of his mouth, but he beats him to it.

“You gotta stay still for me, baby,” Harry calmly says, “Can you do that for me?”

_Fuck_, if Louis can do it for him.

He nods, more vicariously than usual, mostly because he just wants Harrys’ lips back on his body, and Harry smiles at his enthusiasm. Of course, it only takes a minute of Harry licking, biting and sucking on Louis’ nipple for him to be writhing under him. 

There’s a hand on Louis’ waist to try and keep him still as Harry moves onto his other nipple, but it’s to no avail. Louis is still a squirming mess, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

Harry pops his mouth off Louis and pushes himself upwards so he’s sitting back on his knees. Louis has got his legs spread out, and there’s a flush following down his neck that has Harrys’ cock twitch inside his constricting pants. They haven’t even rid themselves out of their clothes, yet Louis already looks completely fucked out, his hair messy and disheveled, and looking so beautiful, all spread out for him.

He’s getting sidetracked.

Louis’ thighs spread slightly more, be it subconscious or not, as Harry grabs the hem of his sweater and slides it off him, throwing it into the pile of clothes cluttered around them.

Harry’s fit, and that’s the understatement of the day, but instead of focusing (more like ogling) on his broad shoulders and toned chest , there’s other things that catch Louis’ attention. Particularly certain tattoos Harry has, but hasn’t uttered a word about all this time together.

“Of course _you_ have a butterfly on your stomach,” Louis comments. His eyes shamelessly drag across Harry’s entire exposed torso. “And some leaves and swallows. S’very hippy of you, dare I say.”

“It’s a moth, actually,” Harry points out before grabbing Louis’ wrists on each hand. 

“Point still sta-oh,” Louis’s eyes widen as his wrists get raised above his head, held down by Harrys’ right hand while he balances himself on top of the shorter one with his other hand.

“_Now_,” He smirks, “Will you keep still for me?”

Louis gulps and this time, he tries to keep his promise.

He nods, and Harry smirks at him, knowing he has the upper hand on the smaller one. He leans down to softly peck Louis’ lips, before moving to the side of his mouth, down to the junction between his neck and shoulder, biting him and making Louis groan under him and chuckling before licking over the sore spot to soothe it with his tongue.

Louis feels like he’s on fire as Harry drags his lips down his body, taking his time with kissing and dragging his tongue in the smoothness of Louis’ tummy, until he reaches the hem of his leggings. 

There’s an obvious small bulge on the front that’s very difficult to ignore, and the fabric of his leggings leaves almost nothing to imagination and Louis starts to get nervous. He tries not to show it as Harry’s kissing right below his belly button and has his fingers pulling down the hem of his leggings, leaving him on edge. It’s easy to get distracted, though. Harry’s lips feel wonderful against his skin, and it takes Louis’ mind off his own insecurities, but the drag of Harrys’ fingertips underneath the hem almost pulls him out of the heavenly trance he’s in. 

“Can I take them off?” Harry asks. He’s looking at Louis, green eyes and soft smile, and Louis feels so comfortable with him that he forgets about his own problems and nods before he can even realize it.

Louis can feel the fabric of his leggings getting slowly, in a very Harry-esqe manner, pulled down his thighs. He’s nervous, and doesn’t even want to look down to see Harrys’ reaction when he finds out about Louis’ small problem. He turns his head to the side to hide it from him, yet Louis still raises his hips to help Harry take his leggings off.

His heart thumps heavily under his chest, and his breath hitches when he feels the hem of his leggings stop around his mid thigh, and hears Harry utter a single word.

“Oh.”

Louis wants to dig himself a hole. 

Of course Harry would be surprised with how painfully obvious it is that Louis has a small cock under his thong. It’s an embarrassment, one that Keegan liked to remind him and make him feel so horrible about, and he was already mentally bracing himself for sneers and rude comments. He peeks his head up, ready to defend himself to no avail, when the look of Harry’s face catches him by surprise.

He has his eyes glued to the sight in front of him, Louis’ tiny cock constricted behind a random black thong he put on this morning, and he has his pink little head peeking out from the top. 

“Wow,” There’s a grin forming on Harry’s face that takes Louis by surprise. “Those panties look so beautiful on you, baby.”

The panties. That’s what Harry was looking at, what he was surprised by. Not at what was beneath. In fact, he didn’t even say anything about the tiny cock underneath.

They weren’t anything worth looking at twice, actually. Louis definitely had some more elaborate pairs back at home, and even in his cabin. Ones with lace and bows that suited his curvy figure perfectly. These ones, the ones he so surely decided to wear today since they looked more discreet with his leggings and offered much more comfort than briefs would, were nothing more than a plain black thong. It fit him rather nicely, snug and comfortable enough, but the way Harry was staring at him, at his pretty basic pair of panties, made him feel like a million fucking dollars. He was pretty sure Harry was drooling himself at this point, and he could almost see a special glint in his eyes, and that made him feel special.

“You like them?” Louis asks him, just to be sure. Harry scoffs.

“How could I not?” He says, “God, you look amazing, Lou. All nice and pretty for me.”

It was a little surreal how Louis really wasn’t wearing anything special, but Harry was looking at him as if he wore his prettiest pair of panties in the entire universe. There’s something about the genuine smile he keeps on his face before he pulls Louis’ leggings completely off, kissing Louis’ ankles, inner thighs, tummy, all the way back up until he’s back on his lips, that makes the smaller one feel so appreciated. Intimately, that is. 

And that’s something Louis hasn’t felt in a long time.

Needless to say, Louis can’t keep his hands above his head any longer. There’s an overwhelming urge to have his hands on Harrys’ back, feeling his muscles move underneath his palms, and the way he holds himself up so as to not crush the smaller one beneath him, yet still managing to graze their cocks together with ease. 

“Thought I told you to keep your hands above your head,” Harry mumbles into Louis’ ear before biting his ear lobe.

“S-Said a lot of, _ah_, things,” Louis moans, digging his nails into Harrys’ shoulders during a particular hard grind. Harry’s smirking, and Louis doesn’t even have to be looking at him to know it.

“We’ll see about that, next time,” He hums, before grabbing Louis’ thigh and pulling it over his waist. Harry gets better access now, and he doesn’t waste any time before taking a handful of Louis’ right arse cheek and squeezing it with their lips locked together.

Harry kneads Louis’ deliciously large ass before pulling his hand back and slapping it against the meaty flesh, no doubt leaving a red mark of his hand behind. Louis’ squeals in Harrys’ mouth turn into a moan coming from the back of his throat and Harry slides his fingertips under the thin strap of Louis’ thong. 

Louis can only imagine the nail marks he’s left on Harry’s back, and he’s certain there’s more as Harrys’ long fingers trail between the crease of Louis’ bum, ghosting over Louis’ clenching hole. His middle finger traces little circles around the ring of muscle, eliciting pretty little moans from Louis. Harry wasn’t sure his cock could get any harder than it already was, but he was surely wrong as his length pressed against the fabric of his briefs and sweatpants, harshly straining for a release. 

The dry tip of his middle finger teases Louis’ hole, and he lets out pretty little shaky breaths before it starts to push inside him. It’s starting to get quite difficult for Louis to focus on kissing Harry back, especially when there’s a dry finger teasing him, giving him something to look forward to.

But Louis gets knocked out of this haze when Harry suddenly, but rather slowly, takes his finger out and leaves his hand right on top of Louis’ right arse cheek, mindlessly kneading it before his fingers drag up to the strap of Louis’ thong, toying with it.

“Look so pretty in these,” Harry hums. He grabs the strap, pulling it upwards, making the soft fabric press against Louis’ entrance. “Wanna get them off, though.”

Harry’s been nothing but attentive, caring and fucking amazing so far, and no doubt a very understanding and honest person. He’s most likely noticed Louis’ insecurity by now, even if neither of them brought it up. There’s a part of him that wants to believe that Harry won’t even bat an eye at the tiny dick Louis is hiding behind the soft black fabric of his panties, but there’s still that little voice in the back of his head telling him over and over how he’ll just get ridiculed for something he doesn’t have any control over, and Louis doesn’t want that to happen. Not again, not after what he’s been through. 

He’s nervous, but he has his ways.

“Let me turn over,” Louis says, already taking his arms and legs from around Harrys’ bigger build.

Harry either misses the shake in Louis’ voice, or dismisses it as a moan. “Mm, want me to eat your ass?”

Crisis averted, and it’s a win-win situation for Louis.

“Y-Yeah,” He shudders. “Want your mouth on me.” It takes a second for his tummy to be resting over someone’s coat, propping himself on his elbows and have Harry behind him, in between his spread legs. He can’t properly see what’s happening behind him, however, he can feel Harry firmly grasp his plump cheeks, taking his time with feeling out the glorious roundness of Louis’ bum. 

Harrys’ fingers are at the hem of Louis’ panties and at this point, Louis can’t really avoid it any longer. He raises his hips, and Harry is quick to take the hint. He drags the black panties down Louis’ thighs, leaving them hanging on his knees before taking hold of both cheeks, fondling and grasping them until Louis starts impatiently whining for more.

Harry likes to take his time, and even if Louis really appreciates and likes how they aren’t going straight to the point, he’s starting to get restless. Harry must’ve noticed, perhaps from all the whining and embarrassing begs Louis has been making so far for Harry to _fucking do something_, and he finally pushes Louis’ cheeks apart, revealing his fluttering pink hole, anxiously waiting for Harry’s tongue.

“Fuck, Lou,” He hears Harry grunt from behind, “You’ve got the prettiest fucking hole.”

Louis is growing impatient with all the teasing. His tiny cock is hard under his belly and rutting against the makeshift mattress of clothes isn’t giving him what he needs right now, “Well, are you gonna do something about it?”

Harry doesn’t answer, at least not with words. Louis is about to speak up, again, when the words fly out of his mouth in the highest pitched moan so far at the first contact of Harrys’ tongue against his hole. 

Louis’ head drops as Harry licks a fat stripe from just above Louis’ perineum up until the crease of his arse, licks growing shorter and more focused on Louis’ delicious opening. Harry’s real fucking slow about it, taking his time by tracing his tongue around the puckered hole and dropping kisses on it, and it’s driving Louis fucking crazy.

The whole cabin was being filled up entirely by Louis’ desperate moans, and it was music to Harrys’ ears. He grasps Louis’ cheeks tighter as he licks his hole. This time, his tongue slides past the tight ring of muscle, sliding inside and prompting a wave of high pitched sounds from Louis that just go straight to Harrys’ straining cock in his pants. 

“Harry!” Louis gasps at the feeling of Harrys’ tongue inside him. It’s wet and amazing and that’s all his mind can think about. Louis pushes his ass back against Harry’s face, wanting his tongue to go deeper. He’s sure he’ll cum all over his tummy if they keep going the pace they’re at. 

Louis rolls his eyes in pleasure as Harry takes his tongue out of his hole and goes back to licking at it as much as he can, being slow yet insanely sloppy and Louis, in his haze of _Harry, Harry, Harry,_ is pretty sure this is the best rim job he’s ever received.

Harry slaps his right cheek as he quickens the pace of his tongue and Louis _knows_ this takes the crown.

Louis is on edge. He’s so close to releasing all over his tummy and the clothes beneath him and he’s sure he will if Harry doesn’t stop moving his tongue around his hole so expertly and doing exactly all the things that makes the bottom of Louis’ stomach warm up in a familiar heat.

Of course, Harry must be able to read minds, because just when Louis is about to bring his hand down to his little cock, Harry licks up Louis’ hole one last time before pulling away completely and releasing the firm grip on Louis’ cheeks.

Louis’ a panting mess. His body feels like it’s made out of jell-o, and he drops his hips, mewling at the contact of his aching cock with the warm coat. He faintly hears Harry chuckling behind him, and feels a butterfly kiss being dropped on his burning right cheek.

“That good?” He asks, as if he doesn’t even know how fucking amazing he is at eating ass. That’s probably how he got that jawline, Louis thinks, and he doesn’t even need to know about Harrys’ sex life to know that it’s true. Maybe genetics played a roll, but holy fuck, if that wasn’t the best his ass has ever been eaten.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Louis somehow manages to say. He’s got his face pressed against the warm fabric under him, willing his breathing to settle down. 

There’s a finger loosely tracing around Louis’ spit slicked hole, “Funny how you still manage to be a brat when you’re all fucked out.”

“You haven’t even fucked me yet,” Louis points out. He arches his back out, willing for that teasing finger to enter his body. 

Harry’s being difficult. He’s purposely steering his finger away from the pretty hole, despite Louis’ attempts and chasing it with his hips.

“You want that, don’t you?” 

His voice is deep and gruff, an octave deeper than before his tongue met with Louis’ bussy, and Louis builds up enough effort to pull himself back up on his elbows and try to get a look at Harry.

Harrys’ hair is a mess, and his cheeks are a tint of red darker. His lips and chin are practically drooling with saliva, and Louis has never wanted to kiss him as much as he does now. He puckers his lips and Harry crawls to him, holding himself up over his back. 

“Want you,” Louis mumbles, their lips a hair away from touching.

“I’m here,” Harry assured him, before pressing their lips together. The angle is awkward and Louis’ neck starts to hurt, but it pays off when Harry kisses him and ruts his covered cock against the smaller ones’ bare ass. 

They pull apart and smile stupidly at each other before Harry pulls back all the way so he’s sitting on his calves and places his hands on Louis’ waist.

“Turn over for me, babe?” Harry asks, already starting to push Louis over. 

Louis is reluctant to do so. If it were up to him, he’d be lying on his tummy the entire time and just have fun. He crosses his arms in front of him and rests his chin on them so he can’t look at Harry anymore. 

“I, uh. I want to stay like this,” He says, and he mentally curses himself for not sounding even half as confident in himself than he wanted.

“Oh.” Harry isn’t expecting this sort of answer, or change of tension in the cabin. “Are you sure about that? You know there’s no reason to be shy around me, right?”

_Fuck. Why is Harry so fucking kind and considerate._

“I just...I don’t want you to look at me,” Louis presses.

“Louis…” Harry softly says. His cautious tone makes Louis shove his face in the crevice between his arms and where his chest was resting. He feels movement behind him, and hears the clothes crinkle under him until Harrys’ warmth is back beside him. There’s a hand resting at the bottom of Louis’ spine, warm and comforting, and Louis wants to scream.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, okay?” Harry says from beside him. Louis still doesn’t want to peek his head out, “Whatever your insecure about, I won’t judge you for it. Hell, I’ve got two extra nipples, if it makes you feel any better.”

It does, and Louis feels like he wants to laugh.

Harrys’ unmoving hand on his back starts to come up and back down in a soothing gesture, and it’s making Louis realize how cold he’s starting to get again, “Can you look at me, Lou?”

He doesn’t really want to, but he knows he’s causing a strain and worrying Harry way too much about something that’s been negatively ingrained in his brain. He can’t keep on letting his insecurities get the best of him any longer than they already have. 

“Just…” Louis picks his head up, but still can’t get himself to look at Harry. “Don’t make fun of me, okay?”

He unwraps his arms and pushes himself back on his elbows.

“Why would I make fun of-” Louis turns over so he’s resting on his side. He’s facing Harry, who’s almost mirroring him except the taller one’s leaning his head on his hand. Harrys’ eyes are on Louis’ face, brows furrowed and gentle, until he’s fully turned over and has his tiny cock, and biggest insecurity, on full display.

There’s silence in the cabin, and Louis already regrets turning over and revealing his petite, fully hard cock resting on his lower tummy and the clothes under him. He finds the courage to glance over at Harry’s expression, and he’s embarrassed from the way Harry’s brows are raised and his jaw is slack. 

He groans and attempts to put a hand over to cover himself from Harry’s gaze, but he’s surprised when Harry catches his wrist before he can even hide his short length behind it and when Louis glances at him, he’s...smiling.

“You’re beautiful,” Harry assures him, and Louis could just cry right then and there, “And you’re lovely.”

Harry shuffles his body closer to Louis’. “And funny,” he kisses the corner of Louis’ mouth, “and smart,” his knee pushes between Louis’, and he grabs the smaller ones’ thigh to rest it over his hips as he kisses the tip of Louis’ nose, “and gorgeous,” Louis’ already smiling as Harry pecks his lips for longer than intended, “and your cock is so fucking pretty.”

Louis throws an arm around Harrys’ neck, and leans their foreheads together. Harrys’ own arm is around Louis’ waist, his large hand cupping an arse cheek.

“Aren’t you weirded out by it?” He mumbles into the little bit of space between them.

Harrys’ hand leaves his cheek, and Louis wonders why until Harry grabs his tiny dick, covering it completely with his palm. “I love it, Lou. It’s just as pretty as you are.”

It’s the first time in ages Louis actually feels happy his cock is below average size. His three inches were always looming at the back of his mind, especially during his last relationship, and it feels amazing to have someone appreciate his body for what it is.

Harry squeezes his tiny cock in a handjob, wet with precum, and it feels so fucking good. Tiny gasps and quiet breaths are passed between them and they lock their lips together, and it feels so lovely. Everything about Harry is so amazing.

As they kiss, Harry lets go of Louis’ tiny cock, eliciting a whine from the smaller one. Harry smiles into the kiss and runs a hand down Louis’ spine, all the way down the crease of his ass until his fingers, moist and sticky with Louis’ precum, slip past Louis’ tight opening. 

He lazily pushes a finger in and out of him, reveling in the sweet melody of Louis’ strangled whimpers. It’s when a second finger struggles to enter him smoothly that Louis remembers a vital item for them.

“Wait, do you have any lube?”

“Yeah,” Harry says, fingers still circling Louis’ hole, “In my bag.”

Louis is actually surprised Harry’s conveniently carrying lube around, but there’s more pressing issues at hand than his own curiosity.

“And condoms?”

“Of course,” He gently pushes Louis’ thigh off his hip, and removes his arm from around him, and Louis already regrets asking since he’s already feeling the cold hit him. Meanwhile, Harry hadn’t even left his side yet. 

“Let me just go grab it.”

It’s with a lot of reluctance that he lets Harry go, but he’s happy Harry kisses his lips three more times before he actually decides to move.

Louis takes this opportunity to fully take off his panties that had been hanging around his knees to avoid thinking about how cold it was getting again. Granted, the effect Harry had on him left him feeling warm and fuzzy inside, but it’s no question the cold surrounding him was getting to him, and Harry was on the other side of the cabin, surely taking his time with rummaging through his large backpack for lube and condoms. 

He finally finds them, and Louis’ skin has already gone on a rampage of goosebumps all over. Harry gets up and takes a moment to pull his pants off and Louis almost chokes at the huge bulge beneath Harry’s black boxer briefs. 

“Sorry, baby,” Harry apologizes with a kiss on Louis’ cheek as he lays down next to him.

“S’okay,” Louis says as he snuggles up against the taller one. “Just get on with it. Need you so bad.”

He doesn’t need to be asked twice, that’s for sure. 

Harry gets up from beside Louis to sit on his calves between Louis’ legs, and before the smaller one can complain about the cold, Harry pulls the back of Louis’ knees up against his chest so he’s fully and completely exposed to him.

“Hold these for me, please.” Louis wants to jab on the polite manners, but he decides against it and wraps his hands around the back of his knees to keep still. He watches between his raised legs as Harry grabs a transparent bottle and squeezes its contents onto three of his fingers. 

Louis catches a glimpse of the label as Harry sets the bottle aside, “_Of course_ it’s organic lube.”

A lubed up finger dances around Louis’ tight entrance, teasing and urging tiny gasps from the smaller one, before Harry starts to push a digit inside, “Gotta stay consistent.”

Louis snorts, “Come here, you hippy. _I’m cold._”

He pushes in his finger deeper at the same time as he leans over to plant a kiss on Louis’ pink lips. Louis gasps as Harry pulls back and slowly but firmly pulls his finger in and out of his tight entrance. It feels amazing, and it only gets better when a second finger joins in. It only takes three more thrusts for Harry to brush them against his prostate, sending Louis into a spiral of gasps and loud moans. 

He’s writhing under him, little cock twitching on his tummy every time Harrys’ fingers press right against his sweet spot, and it feels so fucking good. His hands squeeze the back of his knees, and he throws his head back at a particular thrust. Louis whines when Harry fully takes his fingers out, only to push them back inside and straight to the ball of nerves inside him.

“S’good?” Harry asks, as if Louis wasn’t having the fuck of his life.

“S’fucking amazing, Harold.”

Two fingers quickly become three, and the initial burn of being stretched simmers down to a bundle of pleasure. Louis is having a love/hate relationship with Harrys’ tendency to be rather slow, taking his time. He’s currently loving it, because this slowness is easily translated to being careful and considerate for Louis’ tightness. 

Harry scissors and twists his fingers around until Louis, in between shaky breaths and high pitched moans, lets him know he’s ready. Harry still keeps his fingers inside, just to make sure Louis is well and fully stretched.

When Harry does finally take his fingers out, Louis feels empty inside and clenches his stretched hole around air. Harry wipes off any remnants of lube on his thigh and Louis releases his legs from his grip, letting them fall in front of him so he could sit up. He grabs the blue packet holding the condom inside and Harry raises his brows.

“Wanna put it on you,” Louis says, and Harry has zero arguments against it.

He shimmies out of his briefs and sure, Louis could already tell Harry was packing, but to actually see his enormous cock out of the confinements of his underwear was a whole different experience.

Harry’s in between Louis’ legs, on his knees and with his huge fucking dick pointing right at the smaller one sitting in front. Louis gets a little (a lot) distracted by it, but Harrys’ smugness brings him out of his cock induced trance and he tears the condom wrapper open, pulling it out and pinching the top before placing it over Harry’s red cock head and, with one hand holding at the thick base, he rolls the condom down. 

Louis keeps his hand on his cock, slowly jerking Harry off and living for the low groans leaving his lips. He stops for a quick second to grab the discarded lube, and generously squeezes some onto his hand before lathering it all over Harry’s length. 

“How do you want me?” Louis asks as he takes his lube covered hand off of Harry’s cock.

“Turn over, baby,” Harry says, “Unless you want something different?”

Louis doesn’t give him an answer. Doggy style is one of his favorite positions, so he’s quick to turn over, raising himself on his hands and knees and he doesn’t miss Harry cursing under his breath at the sight in front. 

Louis jolts in surprise as he feels a hand harshly smack his right cheek, but he still moans and pushes his ass back to chase the large cock behind him. Louis feels his head against his hole, and it only drives him to push backwards even more until Harry’s hand holds him by his waist.

“Be patient, baby,” He grunts as he runs the head of his cock alongside Louis’ crease, rubbing against his tight hole.

“I am patient,” Louis tries to argue through shaky breaths, “Be gentle, s’been a while…”

Louis feels warmth against his back before he feels a kiss being dropped between his shoulder blades, “Of course, baby. Don’t worry about it.” And Louis’ heart could just about burst right there.

There’s movement behind him, and Louis’ heart thumps in anticipation as Harry finally places his head where it belongs. Harry’s gentle about it, slow in all the right ways as he’s gently pushing his hips forward. Louis feels like he’s on fucking fire as Harry breaches his tight entrance.

They both moan at the same time, and Louis already feels so fucking full even though Harry’s barely even inside him.

“Breathe, baby,” Harry reminds him. He lowers down to place another kiss on his back, while simultaneously pushing in deeper.

And he does so. He breathes, moans, and gasps as Harry slowly pushes his hips inside him until his hip bones meet the back of Louis’ cheeks.

“So fucking big,” Louis struggles to say. Even with the prolonged prep, he was still feeling the burn of being stretched out by Harry’s cock, which was much bigger than his fingers. He stops his movements to let Louis adjust to him, while whispering sweet nothings and running a hand soothingly around Louis’ back to take his mind off the burn. 

“You can move,” Louis finally says after a couple of minutes of waiting until the initial sting dulled down. Harry’s more than happy to comply. He grabs each side of Louis’ waist and starts out slowly, pulling back before thrusting back in. Low groans can be heard, and Louis’ pushing his hips back every time Harry pushes back inside his walls slowly at first, and then gradually faster and rougher as Louis’ pleads grow louder and persistent.

“_God_, fuck me,” Louis moans after a particularly hard thrust. He feels so tight and warm inside; Harry just wants to stay inside him forever. He’s pretty sure he’s leaving red prints of his hands on Louis’ waist, but Louis doesn’t seem to have any complaints, and neither does he.  
Louis was just starting to get used to Harrys’ hard and quick thrusts when the taller one slows his movements down. Louis is about to ask why until Harry brings his pace up in a different angle, and presses straight on Louis’ bundle of nerves.

“_Ah, uhng, fuck!_” Louis’ wails fill up the room as Harry pounds into his tight walls. “Feel so fucking, _aah_, good, Ha-arry, _fuck!_”

Harry’s breaking a sweat and can’t get enough of the feeling of being enveloped by Louis’ warm hole. It’s hot, and feels so fucking amazing.

Louis’ pushing his hips back, and Harry’s been pushing in his warm walls and hitting Louis’ prostate more times than not and when Harry changes his pace into slow and hard thrusts, Louis isn’t expecting it to feel better, but the slow drag that had Louis feel everything and more, which made the heavy thrust feel even better as it hit his prostate.

And it feels so good that the third time Harry does this, Louis arms just collapse. Louis loses the ability to hold himself up and simply takes Harry’s huge cock like that; ass up and face down.

Louis’ fingers are bunching up the clothes beneath him as he tries to hold back tears from being fucked so good. He can barely even keep his moans at bay, much less when Harry’s hitting all the right spots and gripping his waist ever so tightly. 

It’s fucking amazing, that’s what this is.

“Lou, _ah_,” Harry groans from behind him, “Look so pretty taking my cock.”

Louis shivers.

“Close,” Louis groans with his face pressed onto the clothes, “Ha-arry, _God_.”

He’s on the edge of cumming, and both of them know it’ll only take a few hard thrusts for Louis to blow his load all over his thighs. Harry squeezes his hips and angles his cock away from Louis’ special bundle of nerves. 

Louis whines in frustration and tries to sway his hips so Harrys’ cock would hit him where he wanted the most, but Harry starts to slow down his pace until he gradually pulls out of his hole with a shaky groan.

If it weren’t for Harrys’ grip on Louis’ hips, he would’ve dropped his spent body. His body feels so light and tingly with overstimulation that, at this point, he could just lay there and take Harrys’ cock and he’d be happy. His tiny cock, too. 

Thankfully, Harry helps him lay down on his back properly and leans over to brush Louis’ fringe, that had matted down to his forehead, with his fingers. Louis mewls, and Harry giggles at how adorable he is before leaning down to properly kiss him. It’s soft and sweet, Harry taking full control, and Louis loves every second of it. 

Harry pulls back and Louis looks so cute, he can’t help himself to kiss the tip of his nose. Louis giggles and places his hands on Harrys’ chest, pushing him back to properly look at him. 

Harrys’ long curls are all over the place. They’re messy, and look like they’re twice as tangled as before, and Louis knows he’s to blame for that. Still, his right hand comes up to push some of his hair behind his ear.

“Wanna cum,” Louis coyly says. Harry leans backwards, sitting on his knees between Louis’ spread legs, and takes Louis’ calves in his palm and braces them on his shoulders. He keeps a hand on Louis’ right leg as he lines his cock with Louis’ puckering entrance.

Louis takes in a breath as Harry slides in with ease and crowds himself over Louis, holding himself up by his hands. He thrusts his hips rhythmically, gradually getting faster, fueled by the little sounds Louis makes. 

Harrys’ cock brushes right on Louis’ prostate, making the smaller one throw his head back in a moan, and Harry keeps hitting it as he intertwines their fingers together, locking them tight as he rams his cock inside Louis’ tight walls. 

Louis was so close he could feel the warmth in the pit of his tummy. He’s writhing and arching his back as Harry pounds into him.

“You can cum, baby,” Harry says, “Let yourself go.”

“But I can’t,” He sobs, “H-Harry I need to-”

“You can do it baby,” He insists, slightly changing his angle. 

And that’s all Louis really needs before shutting his eyes and feeling a familiar heat wash through him before he moans loudly and lets go, jizzing himself all over his tummy and a little on Harrys’ chest.

Harry keeps pounding his hole as he’s coming down from his high, and Louis clenches around Harrys’ big cock, making him groan as his thrusts start to become sloppy and harder before he comes inside the condom with a groan. His hips steadily slow down as he rides out his high until his cock is well and truly spent. 

Louis’ hole already feels sore, and he groans as Harry gently pulls out. He finally sees Harry take off the used condom, tie it around and throw it somewhere next to their mattress, uncaringly so. Louis is too spent to even bother commenting on it. 

He drops himself right beside Louis, lying face up to catch their breath before Harrys’ arms come around Louis’ waist to pull him on top of his chest. Louis hums under his breath as he props a leg over Harrys’ thighs and throws an arm over his broad torso.

The cuddling feels amazing; Louis hasn’t cuddled like this with anyone in ages, and it feels even better than he remembered. Harry’s so warm under him, and he tucks his face in Harrys’ neck. The broader one holds him tightly, soothingly running a hand down Louis’ back.

“You okay?” Harry gruffly asks. “Feel warmer?”

“Never felt better.”

Harry chuckles at Louis, and lays his head back as they cuddle in comfortable silence.

Cuddling with Harry feels great. Laying on his chest and having an easing hand run down his back after an amazing fuck is exactly what Louis needs. He’s an affectionate person; hugs and cuddles are always a necessity for him, and it feels even better when he’s embraced by someone he loves, or strongly cares about. 

It’s been so long since he’s received such a warm snuggle, especially after sex. Even with Keegan, they hadn’t cuddled after sex during their last year-ish as a couple, and with someone like Louis, that really took a toll on him. So, it’s nice to share this moment with Harry, who was just as much as a cuddle bug as he was. 

Louis peeks his eyes open and brings his chin up to glance at Harry. He’s got his eyes closed and there’s still a faint flush staining his face that serves as a reminder of what they’ve been doing. As if Louis’ sore hole wasn’t enough of a reminder, already. 

He must’ve noticed Louis’ eyes on him, because Harry turns his head to Louis, green eyes staring back at his icy blues. Without warning, he leans in and presses his lips at the top of Louis’ head, leaving them for a few seconds longer, eliciting a smile out of the smaller one.

“You sure you’re good?” Harry asks. “Was I too rough?”

“No,” Louis softly assures him. “You were amazing. Perfect, really.”

Harry smiles and leans his head back, bringing his hand up to Louis’ shoulder, and pulling him impossibly closer to him. Their gazes remain locked together, and Louis feels the need to bring up something that’s been hanging in the back of his mind.

“Ehm, thanks for not making fun of me,” Louis says.

At this, Harry’s gentle smile turns into a confused frown.

“Why would I make fun of you?”

Louis bites his bottom lip. “I don’t...I don’t know. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna like my...small dick.”

Harry lets go of Louis, turning over on his back. For a second, he thinks he’s royally fucked things up, or maybe Harry was lying when he said all those lovely things, maybe he just wanted a hole to fuck. But before Louis’ mind can go any deeper, Harry leans on his elbow and looks down at the smaller one.

“Louis, I promise you that everything about you is beautiful,” he says. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but I’ll say it until you believe me: I love your small dick. It’s perfect, just like the rest of you.”

Louis blushes. He wasn’t expecting something like this, and it makes him feel good all over. 

“Sorry,” He apologizes. “I’m not usually this insecure. I, uh, my ex just kind of...made fun of it a lot, and kind of changed my view over it these past few years.”

“Well, he’s a fucking idiot,” Harry scoffs before laying back down and pulling Louis next to him, kissing the top of his head again. “Can’t believe he tried to make you feel like you're not the most beautiful person in the world.”

“Now you’re just exaggerating,” Louis smiles, feeling it in his heart.

“I beg to differ,” he says, pulling Louis in for a cuddle. Louis decides there’s no point in arguing with him any longer. Maybe it’s time to accept that he’s not unlovable, that there’s people who would actually treat him the way he deserves.

He doesn’t want anyone else, though.

He wants Harry.

  
\----

  
Louis doesn’t really remember falling asleep, or even putting a warm coat over himself as a makeshift blanket, but he’s slightly disoriented and has his face smothered against Harry’s rising chest, who’s faintly snoring next to him. Louis doesn’t really want to wake him up, but his stomach grumbles in hunger. The light coming from the window also isn’t as bright as he remembers, and Louis wants to check if the blizzard has gone down enough to know if it’s safe for them to leave.

“Harry?” he calls out. Harry doesn’t move an inch, his mouth hanging slightly agape, still snoring. Louis calls his name again three more times, and it’s not working. Harry refuses to wake up, and even has the nerve to turn his head away from him, and Louis isn’t having any of it.

He’s left him with no other option.

So he pokes Harrys’ cheeks with his index finger a copious amount of times up until the taller one starts to grumble in his sleep. 

“Wake up, Harry,” Louis whispers into his ear, earning him a low grumble in return. Louis smiles; his tactic is working. He keeps on poking Harry until the taller one finally peeks his eyes open and looks down at the little brat.

“M’up,” Harry groans, voice groggy and deep. Louis would be lying if he said his stomach didn’t flip at the sound of it.

“And I’m hungry,” Louis says. “We need to check if it isn’t snowing anymore, too.”

“Think that can wait,” Harry mumbles as he pulls Louis closer to his body, cuddling him completely and leaving no space between them. Louis is sure Harry would fall back asleep in a matter of seconds if he didn’t have a say in it, but he does, so Louis gently pushes Harrys’ heavy body off of him.

“C’mon, you big oaf,” He pushes. “Don’t you want to check if we can leave before it’s too dark?”

Harry groans into Louis’ collarbones, “Can you blame me for wanting to cuddle you instead?”

Louis snorts and runs a hand through Harrys’ curls.

“Five more minutes?” Harry asks.

“Five more minutes,” Louis reluctantly agrees. “And that’s it.”

  
\---

  
It’s an hour later when Harry and Louis finally get properly dressed in their warm attire and get some food down their throats. They might have been distracted with lazily making out with each other and accidentally falling back asleep, but what matters now is that they’re up and getting ready to leave. 

Harry checks outside to see if it was safe enough for them to go back, and they’re both pleasantly surprised. There isn’t a blizzard going on anymore, but there’s still a shitload of snow and some wind going on. Harry thinks it’s better to wait it out a little longer.

“It probably won’t take that long to settle down,” Harry says as he folds a sweater. “It’s already much better than before. I’m not too sure about that wind, though.”

“Hope it doesn’t get too dark out before we leave,” Louis says. He’s been looking out the window, and it worries him that the sun has been going down.

“Even if it does,” Harry finishes packing his bag, “I’ve got a couple of flashlights to help us if we need them. I know the way back to the retreat you’re staying at, so don’t worry about it.”

Louis does worry about it, and in the next fifteen minutes of waiting, his eyes barely leave the window. They’re cuddling and talking, but the distractions don’t make Louis any less nervous. He’s got a terrible sense of direction, which was the reason he ended up stuck here in the first place, and he’s seen enough horror movies to be freaked out about forests at night. He’s got Harry, though, who knows his way around, and it helps ease his mind a little, but he’s still a little bit worried.

Eventually, Harry deems it safe enough for them to go back, and Louis is happy he’ll finally be able to go back to safety. There’s still sun shining outside, bright enough so they can see where they’re going without flashlights, yet Harry insists they keep them at hand. Louis doesn’t argue with him about it.

As they leave the cabin, Harry twines their fingers together, squeezing Louis’ own as they walk through the piled snow. Louis likes how Harrys’ huge hand swallows up his own, and he feels protected from all the evils lurking in the forest, which realistically can’t be worse than a deer.

“Is it weird that I’ll kind of miss the cabin?” Louis brings up.

Harry shrugs. “Kind of, but I can see the charm in it.”

“I mean, I know I hated the cold and how uncomfortable it was to stay there,” Louis is quick to add.

“That’s the understatement of the day,” Harry comments. Louis smacks his thigh with their laced hands, which Harry skillfully avoids with a laugh.

“But, I don’t know,” he continues. “It just feels weird to be finally going back after so much time stuck inside.”

“Well, I liked it in there,” Harry counters. “But I think it’s mostly because I ended up meeting you.”

Louis rolls his eyes and almost wants to throw up from all the sweetness, but a soft blush and a pretty smile stain his features instead.

“I mean, I didn’t really feel the whole you smacking me with a plank moment, but I can respect the survival instinct.”

“Should’ve brought that plank with me,” Louis grumbles. “Feels like you need to get ambushed a few more times.”

“Love it when you talk dirty to me,” Harry’s smirks. “My erection can only get so hard, Lou.”

Louis giggles, and they spend the rest of their hike bantering and making each other laugh with stupid jokes and wholesome anecdotes. It helps to tolerate the cold weather. Louis appreciates having Harrys’ warm gloved hand tangled with his; it’s giving him the warmth he needs, as if the heat in his tummy wasn’t enough.

“Did you hurt your foot?” Harry suddenly asks, interrupting Louis mid-rant about how Liam should stop being a twat about Louis’ hour-long showers. He needs to learn how to respect Louis’ private time, even if it’s at eight in the morning and they’re both late for work. 

“What?” Louis frowns. “No, why would you think that?”

“You’re walking funny.” He points out.

Louis deadpans.

“Harry...you do realize you did this to me, right?”

“Did wha-” Harry’s eyes widen in realization, “Oh. Right, sorry. Was I too rough? Are you okay?”

“You’re a dummy,” Louis snorts. “Hate to inflate your ego, but yeah. You were amazing.”

There’s a proud smile on Harrys’ face, and Louis already regrets raising up his ego.

“Can’t wait to make you limp for the rest of our lives.” Harry grins, and Louis chokes on his own breath.

"What a fucking cornball," Louis mutters, but he nonetheless squeezes Harry’s hand and smiles at the thought of them being together after this.

They reach the retreat Louis is staying at quicker than he anticipated, and it makes him wonder where the hell he lost track. Harry made the way back seem so much simpler, and it’s great to have his company. Their jokes are similar, and Louis almost thinks he’s finally met his quick wit match, but just like in everything else he does, Harry’s a little slow sometimes, which honestly makes Louis laugh more than it makes him frustrated.

When they get to the cabins, Louis makes a run for his as soon as it gets in his line of vision. Harrys’ hand felt too nice and was too warm to let go of, so he dragged Harry along behind him and surprisingly, neither of them slipped on the melting snow. Louis wasn’t sure he’d survive getting crushed by Harry and his pure muscle build, and he’s glad he doesn’t get to find out.

They’re both panting when they reach the porch, but it’s all worth it. Louis is grinning and can barely keep still on his feet. He reluctantly lets go of Harrys’ hand as he unlocks the cabin door, pushing it open and letting a sigh of relief slip through his lips as his bed comes to view. Louis is so relieved to finally reach his cabin, he almost wants to drop and kiss the ground for finding his way back. With Harrys’ help, of course. But, minor details.

“Home sweet home.” He whistles before dramatically throwing himself on top of his bed, belly facing down.

He faintly hears the door close, but he’s too busy snuggling against his warm sheets and pillow to even acknowledge it. He does, however, peek an eye open when he feels the mattress sink under him. He gets a view of Harry lying beside him on his side, leaning on his elbow, with a brow raised and a stupid smile on his face. 

“Shouldn’t you at least take off your shoes?” Harry asks. 

“Shouldn’t you be cuddling me?” Louis argues.

“That’s a good point.” Louis was expecting Harry to throw an arm around him and snuggle him right then and there. Instead, he hears more shuffling in the background, and suddenly, Harry isn’t wearing his jacket anymore, and is down to only a few sweaters. His beanie seems to have come off, too. 

“Don’t you want to take off your coat at least, get more comfortable?”

“Ugh.” Louis slumps over as lazily as he can to sit up and pull his jacket and sweaters off. He’s taking too long, apparently, so Harry ends up doing most of the work on getting Louis out of his copious amount of layers.

Harry takes his shoes off, much to Louis’ appeal, and they finally get under the covers to lay down. Louis isn’t shy about snuggling up against Harrys’ chest, and even goes as far as purring underneath his breath as Harry wraps an arm around him and tucks his chin in at the top of Louis’ head. 

He wasn’t even tired enough to fall asleep, neither of them were, Louis just had a newfound appreciation for having a bed and a room that's actually warm, not to mention a beefcake daddy cuddling him in said bed. 

And it’s even better when Harry tilts Louis’ chin up and they lazily make out in each others arms, no rush in exploring each others mouths. Soft touches and giggling happen in between, even more so when Harry accidentally makes the discovery of the year: Louis is quite ticklish.

They’re making out, and it’s a minute before Harrys’ hands start wandering. 

Louis somehow manages to shove Harry and his evil hands off him, and doesn’t hesitate to lock him down in a straddle and grab his wrists so they wouldn’t be free to send them on a tickle fight once again. He knows Harry could break free and turn him over so he’d be on top of him, so he’s taking advantage of how pliant he is now.

“You keep your hands away from me, mister,” Louis warns. “I was gonna ask if you wanted to take a shower with me, but after the ambush, I’m not so sure I want some company anymore.”

“I think it’s fair to say we’re even now,” Harry smirks from below him. “I mean, I didn’t hit you with an old plank, but I think a tickle fight is as close as we’ll get.”

“Fine,” Louis sighs and climbs off of Harry and the bed. “But you better keep your hands off of me.” 

Harry walks up behind him.

“Can’t make any promises, babe.”

And he really can’t. It only took a little peck after washing themselves for their lips and hands to quickly be all over each other under the warm stream of the shower. Louis doesn’t know how it happened, but it did, and he’s dropped to his knees in front of Harry with one hand wrapped around the base of his growing cock.

“Didn't get to suck your cock,” Louis rasps as he slowly squeezes around Harrys’ cock up and down, running his thumb through Harrys’ slit. Harry groans at the sensation and sucks in his breath as Louis’ lips finally touch his head. 

Louis kitten licks his slit, collecting as much pre cum as he can and enjoying the sweet salty taste before tonguing around his head like a lollipop. Louis can feel Harry’s thighs shake as he takes his length in his mouth, bobbing in as much as he can without triggering his gag reflex.

“_Agh_, Louis,” Harry moans and unintentionally thrusts forward. Louis manages to control his gag, but he doesn’t miss the chance to glare at Harry as the taller one tangles his fingers in Louis’ wet hair.

“S-Sorry, babe,” he apologizes with a groan. Louis’ tongue runs through the underside of his big cock. The blue eyed one ignores him and closes his eyes, focusing on the heavy cock that’s gone fully hard in his mouth. Louis brings up his other hand to gently massage Harrys’ balls in his hand. Harrys’ groans fill the bathroom. Louis is so committed to sucking Harry’s cock, which might be one of his favorite things to do, if not his secret talent, he hardly hears Harrys’ blabbering moans turn into actual words, until he feels a hard tug at the back of his head and he slides Harrys’ cock out of his mouth.

“What was _that_ for?” Louis furrows his brows and pouts. Harrys’ face is flushed. Actually, the flush carries out down his neck and he looks like he’s on cloud nine. 

“I’m close, but I want to eat you out and fuck you first,” he says. And who is Louis to object such a delightful offer? Harry helps him up from his knees, and smacks an open mouthed kiss before turning Louis over and pressing him against the tile wall. Louis turns his head to the side and feels the coldness of the tile on his cheek at the same time Harry drops behind him and grasps each cheek in his palms, spreading them, revealing Louis’ puckered hole.

Louis gasps against the tile as Harrys’ tongue comes in contact with his entrance. It feels so good to have his tongue on him; Harry’s proven to be pretty much a professional at rimming and right now feels even better than back at the cabin.

Harry’s being sloppy about it, tongue making a whole mess of spit and saliva, yet he’s doing all the right things that are sending Louis into a spiral of moans. His small cock is already half hard, and he’s fully hard when Harrys’ tongue slips inside Louis’ hole. 

He’s still feeling pretty sore, but the tongue against (and inside) his hole soothes it, or perhaps it’s doing an amazing job at distracting Louis from that subtle ache. Either way, Harry thrusts his tongue inside and out of Louis’ hole, and he’s having a hard time keeping still and holding himself up. Thankfully, Harry keeps a firm grip so Louis wouldn’t slip and fall. 

A finger comes up beneath Harrys’ tongue, prodding the sensitive hole and easily slipping in with it. Louis wails out a moan and moves his hips in a rhytm that matches Harrys’, and it’s fucking mindblowing. The cold tile against Louis’ tiny cock and the warmness of Harrys’ mouth is sending him on overdrive and it’s almost too much to handle. 

Harry pulls his tongue out, tracing the ring of muscle, roughly licking the puckered opening before pulling away completely. Louis is so fucked out, he can barely even say a sentence straight, but he still somehow manages to look over his shoulder to see what the hell Harry was up to.

“Why’d you stop?” he pants. He arches his back, too, so Harry would get back to wrecking his hole with his tongue and finger.

“Are you still sore from earlier?”

“I-” Louis can barely even think. “Yes, no. I’m _alright_, Harry, _please_.”

“So, can I fuck you?” 

“_Yes_, Harry.” Louis’ tiny dick is literally aching at this point, and if Harry doesn’t get inside him anytime soon, he’s gonna explode. He might still be feeling slightly sore, but he desperately needs Harry right now.

Harry gets up from behind him, and instead of putting his fingers inside Louis’ hole, like the smaller one expected, he cuts the shower off and pulls the curtain open, pulling a confused Louis out and grabbing two towels from the hamper. 

Louis hesitantly takes one from Harrys’ hand, “Aren’t you gonna fuck me?”

“Of course, baby,” he replies as he quickly dries off. “But I need to get the lube, and I don’t want you to get cold. Bend over the counter for me, yeah?”

Louis doesn’t get a chance to even nod. Harry chucks his used towel on top of the counter and makes a run out the door, and Louis belts out a laugh when Harry almost slips and falls on his arse. 

“You saw nothing.” Harry points at him as he leaves the steamy bathroom. Louis simply waves him off with a giggle.

Harry quickly comes back with lube and a condom, walking extra cautiously so he doesn’t actually slip on something this time, and Louis is already propped his elbows resting on Harrys’ used towel so it was more comfortable. 

“Has anyone ever told you how perfect your ass is?” Harry comments as he gets behind Louis, kneading his hands over his smooth skin. 

“Only a million times, _agh_!” That earns Louis a spank. “_Rude_.

“That’s what you get for being a brat,” he shrugs. Louis wants to argue, he really does. There’s a comeback at the tip of his tongue ready to come out, but Harry’s squirting lube on his fingers and drawing circles around Louis’ hungry hole. 

Maybe the snarky comment can wait. 

The first finger slides in with too much ease. Louis is already whining for a second one not even two minutes after, and Harry’s more than happy to comply. The second finger slowly glides in, and Harry’s running his free hand around Louis’ back, squeezing his hips and asking if everything is alright.

“You’re so fucking slow,” is Louis’ only complaint. “You act like we have fucking forever to do this.”

“And don’t we?” Harry drops a kiss in the middle of Louis’ spine as he takes out his fingers and plays with Louis’ opening. 

Louis grits his teeth. “Not when I’m about to fucking jizz myself all over the bathroom floor.”

“So impatient…” Harry muses. At the same time, he slides three fingers inside Louis’ entrance, sparking a gasp out of the smaller one. Louis’ hips sway in sync with the (painfully slow and honestly frustrating) pace Harry’s set, and it’s even worse how Harry’s strategically avoiding pressing his fingers against Louis’ prostate. Perhaps it’s for a good reason, to make Louis last even longer, but right now, he’s close to ripping the towel he’s been gripping at the entire time. 

He’s also about to scream, as if that isn’t all he’s been doing already.

“Harry,” Louis sneers. “_Please_, get inside of me.”

“You’re so bossy, such a brat,” Harry utters, but he still scissors his fingers one last time before taking them out and wiping the excess lube on his hands on the towel next to Louis’ elbow. “You’ll get my cock, babe. Don’t worry about it.”

Except he will if Harry doesn’t fucking hurry.

He hears the tearing of the condom wrap and arches his back when he sees Harry’s reflection through the mirror squirting some lube on his hand before generously spreading it on his cock. 

Louis’ catches eye contact with Harry through the mirror as Harry’s lining himself up behind him and Louis’ eyes wander down to his chest and he squints his eyes.

“Where are your two extra nipples,” he asks, because there’s no better timing to ask when Harry’s guiding his cock into Louis’ hole.

Harry, seemingly unfazed by the the odd conversation, points at his two extra nipples, on either side of his butterfly tattoo

“Oh, I thought there were moles or something,” Louis hums. “Wow, you really weren’t kidding about- _oof_.”

It’s then that Harry pushes in, hands tight on Louis’ waist. Louis lets his head fall back with a gasp as Harry shoves his entire length inside until he’s balls deep. He doesn’t waste half as much time letting Louis adjust to him, not when Louis’ begging him to fucking get on with it.

Louis is very loud, and _that’s_ an understatement.

The bathroom echoes with Louis’ gasps and sweet moans as Harry thrusts become quicker in pace. Louis is sure his hips have bruises on them from hitting the edge of the counter, and he doesn’t find it in him to care. Harry’s pounding his tight hole into oblivion, and that’s the only thing that matters right now.

“_Fuck_,” Louis groans as Harry changes up the angle and brushes his cock right against Louis’ prostate. A shiver of pleasure runs through Louis’ entire body, and the moans slipping out of his mouth become automatic. 

Harrys’ thighs slap against Louis’ cheeks, adding to the noises him and Louis were already making, turning the steamy bathroom into a hot mess of noise. 

“So fucking hot,” Harry grunts. One of his hands leaves Louis’ hips, where a red mark now stains the presence of it, and locks itself with Louis’ hair at the back of his head. His head had fallen between his shoulders and his elbows were about to give out from under him, and Harry pulled his hair up, making Louis watch the scene happening in front of him.

“Wanna see you watch me fuck you,” Harry grasps Louis’ hair tighter. “Wanna show you how pretty you look getting fucked.”

The sight itself is almost too much to bear, but it’s even harder to watch when Harry’s relentlessly hitting Louis’ bundle of nerves, pushing him closer to the edge.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Harry leans over and whispers in his ear. “Look at yourself, baby.”

Louis looks like a hot mess. His hair was going in every direction possible, his cheeks pink and flushed, mouth gaping open. He looks like he’s getting proper fucked, which isn’t far from the truth at all. He looks up to see Harry biting his lower lip, watching his cock sink inside Louis’ hole. The sweat gleaming his chest sends Louis on an overdrive, and after one thrust straight on his prostate, Louis gasps and comes all over the bathroom floor tiles.

There’s fresh tears welling up in his eyes as his tiny cock spills his jizz, while Harry stays relentless behind him. He’s not far off from his own orgasm, Louis can tell, and he clenches his hole around Harrys’ cock and with a groan. Harry suddenly pulls out of Louis, tears the condom off and fists his cock until he’s spilling his seed all over Louis’ back.

Louis watches the entire scene with foggy eyes, and shivers as he feels cum drip down his back, down to the crease of his ass. He doesn’t mind it. Neither does he mind the gentle kisses Harry drops on his back.

“You’re fucking amazing, Lou,” Harry says between kisses. “So fucking beautiful.”

Louis is too breathless to respond, and lets Harry grab the towel under him to clean up both of their messes. Louis can hardly stand on his legs. His body feels light and airy and he’s not sure his shaky legs would manage to hold him up. The ache on his behind would make it hard to stand up straight, too, so he’s leaning his body against the counter so he won’t fall. 

When Harry’s done cleaning up, he drops the towel inside the hamper and easily picks up Louis, carrying him bridal style back to bed, where they lazily kiss in each others arms before they fall asleep, tangled up together under the warm sheets.

  
\----

  
Harry ends up staying with Louis for longer than either of them anticipated. The plan was for Harry to go back to his hostel after having dinner together at the retreats restaurant, but dinner turned into heading back to Louis’ cabin for a quick cuddle, which turned into Harry accidentally falling asleep and not realizing it until the sun was shining through the window. 

Neither of them seem to mind; in fact, they end up spending the next two entire days together.

It’s the happiest Louis has felt in a while, if he’s perfectly honest. He couldn’t even believe he accidentally met someone as easy to get along with him. Harry’s easy going, and despite his horrible puns, he’s really funny, too. There’s hardly a second where Louis doesn’t have a smile on his face.

So they spend Louis’ last two days at the retreat as close to each other as they can. They hold hands together during hikes, laugh at dumb jokes and old memories, fuck until Louis is too sore for another round, which is why Louis could barely even walk now.

It’s all great and Louis feels genuinely happy again. 

Which is why leaving the retreat is harder than what Louis thought at the beginning of the trip.

There’s grey clouds hanging over the pair as they wait for the bus to start loading people. They aren’t alone; there’s families with them, people Louis can vaguely recognize if he stared long enough, but right now he’s too busy focusing on the taller man holding him in his arms than to take note of his surroundings.

“I don’t want to leave,” Louis mumbles into Harry chest, fists clenched tight around the fabric of Harry’s winter coat. 

Harry brings a hand up to comfortingly rub his back, “I don’t want you to leave, either…”

They hug as small speckles of snow start to fall over them. Louis tucks his head closer to Harrys’ neck and tries to stain this feeling in his head. He’s acting too clingy and he knows it. Louis is a naturally affectionate person by itself, but meeting and being around Harry only seemed to make him worse, and it’s getting hard for him to imagine going back to his real life back at home, one that doesn’t consist with being around Harry twenty four seven. 

Louis feels like he should be embarrassed with how needy he’s being, but he’s rather shameless about it, and Harry’s just as bad as he is.

People start piling into the bus, and Louis only realizes it when Harry squeezes his waist. He clenches his eyes shut. Maybe if he doesn’t see it, it’s not real.

“I know, baby,” Harry kisses the top of his head. “I wish we had another day together, but you’ve got my number, okay? We’ll meet up again soon, I promise.”

Louis picks his head up and feels a burn at the back of his throat. “Just...don’t be a stranger.”

Harry smiles sadly, fixing Louis’ fringe. “I’ll be right here.”

Louis tilts his chin up at the same time Harry leans down, and they press their lips together tightly. There’s no tongue or rush in their long peck, just the desperate urge to leave their traces on each other. They pull away, and Louis can still feel Harrys’ plump lips on his. He hopes he doesn’t lose the feeling soon. 

Both of them put Louis’ suitcase into the baggage of the bus, and Louis throws himself in Harrys’ arms before the taller one can even realize it. He’s just as quick to hug Louis back, though, and Louis fights everything inside him to not start bawling his eyes out. 

They hug until the bus driver makes the last call. Louis plants a final kiss on Harrys’ lips before reluctantly releasing himself from their warm embrace. Louis doesn’t want to leave; he hasn’t spent enough time with Harry, and doesn't want to be away from him just yet. He doesn’t think he’d ever want to be parted from him either way, but it’s their reality, now, and it stings to let go of Harrys’ hand and be the last person to get inside the bus. 

“This isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see you later,” Harry assures him. It’s the promise Louis needed to hear. 

He looks back once as he goes up the stairs, and Harry’s still standing there, smiling at him. Harry’s right, they’ll be together soon. They’ll work things out, he knows it.

Louis finds his seat at the back of the bus by the window. Luckily, there’s no one sitting beside him. He places his backpack on the empty row seat and gets comfortable on his own. He glances down, a smile breaking on his face when he spots Harry already waving at him. He waves back and giggles when Harry pulls a funny face before sticking his tongue out, getting an overly dramatic offended reaction from the taller one. 

The bus jolts awake, and Louis’ neck aches with the craning from not wanting to take his eyes off Harry. The last image he sees is Harry waving at him before he can’t see him any longer. His hand stills on the cool window, and that’s when reality sinks in.

He’s sad, there’s no denying that. He wishes Harry was here, cuddling him and letting Louis rest his head on his shoulder to sleep while keeping a hand on the inside of Louis’ thigh. He even wishes he was here to say all his stupid puns and face-palming dad jokes, but he’d be lying if the terrible jokes didn’t make him laugh. He’s already missing Harry so much, and it hasn’t even been five minutes since they parted. 

He figures some music to zone him out would be great right now, so he pulls his forgotten phone from his bag and his headphones, too. He’s got a few texts from his mum and Niall, mostly asking how he’s doing, along with _‘Updates on how Liam’s doing without you’_ from the latter. It’s mostly Liam happily eating his untainted ice cream and sleeping like an angel, but there was one picture Niall sent him of Liam fake crying on the couch with an embarrassing picture of Louis from one of their night outs being clutched tightly against his chest. 

Louis rolls his eyes at it, but still sends him an _‘i miss you too’_ text with way too many hearts than necessary. He also lets Niall know he’s on the bus and on his way back home, which Niall’s quick to reply with two thumbs up back. 

Another song starts playing through his headphones. Louis has been staring at Harrys’ phone number, biting his lower lip and thinking of what to text him. There’s a lot of different options going on in his mind, all ranging from_ ‘hi i miss you’_ to _‘pls wreck my hole’_, but ultimately he ends up with something that works.

_Hey! This is Louis :) _

It’s a perfectly constructed text. Not too desperate, not too bland. It’s just right. The smiley at the end really seals the deal, and Louis’ tummy flutters with butterflies as soon as he presses send. He stares at his phone waiting for a text back, but a minute goes by and Louis realizes Harry probably doesn’t have his phone in hand. He’s sure Harry left it back at the hostel, and he’s on his way back, so it shouldn’t take long before he gets a text back. 

He’ll text him soon, Louis knows it. But for now, he locks his phone and faces it down on his lap, leaning backward and getting comfortable, losing himself in the music playing on his headphones. 

  
\----

  
By the time the bus finally reaches its final destination, Louis feels groggy and achy, with an enormous urge to stretch his legs and get a breath of fresh air. 

It’s been an easier trip than on his way to the retreat, but the seats still got pretty uncomfortable after a while, and he can hear some crying from the kids on the bus through his full volume music. 

And still no text from Harry. 

He had sent a few others too, along the lines of_ ‘i miss you so much already’_ and_ ‘how are you coping without my lovely presence?’_, whenever he’d remember to check his phone after more than four hours, it felt quite pathetic, if he was completely honest. 

It was hard not to worry too much about it; he knew Harry wasn’t that attached to his phone, anyways, but he figured he’d be at least making an effort to let him know he’s alive and well. 

So when he drags himself out of the bus with a headache threatening to boil up, he doesn’t feel as happy as he should to finally be back home. 

After being the last one to get his suitcase, he’s about to shoot Niall a text asking where he and Liam are, but he doesn’t even get to unlock his phone when he spots Liams’ car being parked in the same spot from last time. He grabs the handle of his suitcase and walks over to the unmoving car, where Liam and Niall were already standing beside, looking like they were bickering about something Louis didn’t quite get the jist of. 

“No need to argue over me,” Louis sparks them out of their squabbles

“Louis!” Niall pulls him in for a hug. “We missed you so much, bub. How was the bus ride? Are you tired? Was the retreat as lovely as it seemed on the website?”

“Easy, babe,” Liam comes up behind them. “Louis is probably tired. He might need a cuppa before your interrogation.”

Louis forces a smile. “Thanks, Li.”

He’s hugging Liam, too, in a sort of weird three people hug, and it’s nice to be around his friends. He did miss them after being over a week without the company he was so used to having around all the time, but it’s still bittersweet to be here with them right now. 

“You don’t look too great, Lou,” Liam’s eyes rake his face, eyebrows furrowed together. “Doesn’t look like you got much sleep in the bus.”

“Yeah,” Louis dryly chokes. “Something like that.”

The couple share a look as Louis moves to put his suitcase in the trunk. Liam was half expecting the usual sassy comeback, so to get a dismissive response was slightly alarming, to say the least. 

Louis’ weird mood was obvious throughout the ride home, and not even Nialls’ attempt at lightening the mood with funny stories of what Louis’ missed managed to completely pull him out of his thoughts. Louis’d still laugh and indulge in how excited his best mates were to see him, but his phone was burning in his pocket, and it didn’t take long for his mind to go back to the curly haired man he was quick to grow fond of. 

Arriving back to his best mates house was good. He actually missed the red couch more than he thought, and even if it wasn’t a queen sized bed in a cabin, it was just as nice to him.

“You go sit down, love,” Niall insists. “We’ll help you unpack later if you want, but right now you need to go relax. Can’t imagine how sore you must be from sitting down all those hours.”

Louis almost wants to laugh. He was sore, not all from what Niall was thinking of, but then Harry crosses his mind, and the laugh leaves before it even forms.

Liam and Niall leave him be back on the couch in front of the telly. They probably figured Louis needed some space to settle down, and Louis hates how it looks like he’s back on square one. A week ago, he was doing exactly this: lazing on the couch while watching shit telly and crying over his shitty ex. Now, the only thing missing was a glass of wine, and Keegan was long gone out of his mind, where the curly haired man was quick to replace him.

So nothing had really changed much since then.

Louis had his phone right next to him and kept glancing at it once in a while, only to be disappointed again. The screen never lit up with a text from the specific person he wanted, and not even catching up with the latest episode of Love Island served as much of a distraction. It did lower his IQ, but that’s about it.

At some point, Louis needs to take a piss. He gets up from the couch, happy to give him a break from pointless TV drama, and as he’s walking past the kitchen, his ears perk up at the mention of his name. 

“Do you think Louis is still upset about Keegan?” he hears Liam ask.

There’s an odd silence before he hears Niall sighing, “I don’t know...I really thought the retreat would help him a bit. Don’t think it did much at all…”

“It’s alright, babe. What matters is that we tried, and we’ll be here for him no matter what,” Liam comforts his boyfriend. “His favorite pizzas coming, we’ll cheer him back up.”

Louis’ heart softens, and immediately feels bad for causing his friends to be upset. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but in a way, he’s glad he did, because he realizes he can’t keep his friends in the dark, not after all their efforts to make him feel better.

His need to use the bathroom dissipates, and he turns to knock at the kitchen’s door frame, alerting them on his presence.

“Oh, Louis! We just ordered some pizza for dinner, it’s your favorite!” Niall attempts to cover up.

“S’alright, I heard you guys talking,” Louis cuts to the chase. His friends clearly look embarrassed about being caught, but Louis pays the blushes no mind. “I really appreciate everything you’ve both done for me, the retreat really did help me get over Keegan.”

“Really?” Niall's eyes widen in surprise, as do Liams’. “But then…”

“I, uh, I met someone else there,” Louis confesses. “And it’s a long story, one I’ll get to later, but we met halfway through the week, and he’s great, really. We basically ended up spending the rest of the week together, and leaving him behind really sucked.”

“Oh, Lou,” Liam coos, leaning in to hug him. “I’m sorry…”

“S’okay,” Louis rubs his back before pulling back.

“Is he from London?” Niall asks, clearly interested in Louis’ new love interest.

“Chesire,” He answers. “He goes all over the place, though.”

“Is he coming here any time soon?” Liam asks.

Louis bites his lower lip, “I don’t know, he hasn’t texted me back yet.”

The room is tense with an understanding of what’s gotten Louis so down, and his best mates try anything to make him feel better.

“Don’t worry, Lou,” Liam throws an arm around him. “He’s a busy man; he’d be a lunatic to leave you hanging. Let’s go watch a movie, yeah?”

Louis needs the distraction, so he nods and lets his best mates drag him to the living room, where they spend the night watching his favorite movies and eating as much pizza as their stomachs can handle.

It’s serves as a good distraction, but Louis’ mind still wanders to the curly haired man he left behind.

  
\----

  
The following day, Louis wakes up feeling well rested. He doesn’t even remember falling asleep, but he’s waking up to a pillow under his head, and a warm blanket over his body, and it was most likely because of his best mates. 

He’s still disoriented and in a half-dream like state as he stretches his arm over to grab his phone, and he’s unsurprised by the lack of notifications, at least from the person he wanted. He ignores the text from his mum, and the picture Niall tagged him on Instagram, and throws his phone on the floor. 

It’s still too early to be up; he can’t even hear Liam fumbling around in the kitchen making them breakfast, so Louis turns over and closes his eyes, willing himself back to his dreams.

  
\----

  
It’s a Sunday afternoon when Louis ends up telling Liam and Niall all about his trip, sparing little to no details about his breakdowns and how amazing in bed Harry was, and by the time Louis was done, Niall was set on finding Harry for him. 

It’s no secret Niall was pretty good at finding every single detail about a persons’ life online, but it was hard to even begin his search when Louis realized he had no idea what Harrys’ last name was, where he worked exactly, and anything else that wasn’t his cats name that could help their search be easier. 

Niall was making it his personal mission to find a Harry from Holmes Chapel who did photography for a living, but they started to lose hope after a while of coming up with nothing. It even drags on to when Louis eventually goes back to work on Monday and Niall occasionally sends him screenshots of people he’d find, raising Louis’ hopes until he realizes that the profiles his best mate sends to him aren’t the Harry he met. 

They reach rock bottom when Niall tries searching the number Harry gave Louis, only for it to be traced back to a random old lady, who they find out had passed away two years ago. It’s devastating for Louis when Niall gives him the news. 

For all this time, he really thought he and Harry really clicked. He doesn’t want to believe all Harry wanted was hole to fuck because it didn’t make sense. Unless Harry's secretly an amazing actor, all he got out of Harry was genuine feelings and someone who seemed like he cared, but turns out that wasn’t even true. 

It sucks, and it hurts so fucking much.

  
\----

  
It’s a week later when Louis finds himself sitting at his desk, working on a new article. It’s nothing too special, just a tabloid about a celebrity revealing the gender of her baby, a theme Louis has written a handful of times already. 

In a way, he’s glad he’s not in charge of writing about something that’d require too much attention out of him, like a cheating or caught-up-in-drugs scandal, because after the week he’s had, he’s not really in the mood for the stupid shit he has to overly exaggerate for a living. It’s good pay, by all means, so he’s not complaining too much about it, but his focus isn’t quite there.

Granted, Louis has spent a rough few days feeling sorry for himself and no amount of pizza nights and his favorite blueberry muffins did much to help, except add a few pounds on him. Niall and Liam are always there for him, and Liam has even gone out of his way to spend more time with Louis at work, passing by his cubicle as many times as he could while getting his work done and joining him for lunch more often. It’s nice, and to be honest, they’re the only reason Louis hasn’t tore his hair out.

However, as quick as Louis is to cry, he’s just as fast to pick his head right back up and realize his worth. Louis is an incredible guy; he’s funny, and attractive, and shouldn’t rely his emotions on dumb men that never really cared for him. 

He’s amazing, the whole fucking package, and he can’t keep letting himself go down this rabbit hole of self deprication just because things didn’t exactly work out for him. He’s had his time to cry and really let his emotions out, and now it’s time for him to get back on track.

And for starters, Louis even started to look into getting his own flat. He loves his best mates and he knows it’s reciprocated, but Louis can’t keep sleeping on their couch and invading their personal space. It’s obvious the two of them can’t be as intimate as they want to, even though Louis has accidentally heard them one time too many, it’s still clear they need their space. And they’ve been more than happy to help Louis with everything he needs for this new chapter of his life.

Louis finishes up the article he’s working on and sends it to his editor to look over. He doesn’t think she’ll do much editing, but it’s part of the job, and he’s used to it by now. He glances at the clock and sees he still has plenty of time before his lunch break, so he does what he’s been doing all week, searching for a nice flat that’s move in ready and in his budget.

He already has a few favorites to contact his realtor about, and he’s just clicked on a new flat close to Niall and Liams’ (which was one of Louis’ requirements), when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket.

Karen is pretty lenient on Louis about pretty much anything because she knows Louis is always the first to get his work done, and he’s good at it, but if there’s one thing she’s strict about is the use of personal phones during work hours. Emergency phone calls are alright, but not in the cubicle areas.

Louis pulls his phone out and sees an unsaved number calling, and he thinks it’s his realtor calling from his personal phone, so he answers the call the same time he leaves his office space.

“Hey, Mark!” He says as soon as he’s out. “I’m glad you’re calling, I just found a-”

“Louis?” A familiar voice pipes up from the other side. A familiar voice that isn’t Mark, a voice than can only belong to…

“Harry?”

“Oh my God, yes, it’s me,” The deep voice says. “I can’t believe this actually worked.”

Louis is still stunned that Harry is actually on the other line. He looks around; there’s no one in sight watching his jaw go slack, but he’s still not sure it’s Harry.

“Is this really you?” He frowns in confusion. “And what are you talking about? What worked?”

“Yes, I promise you it’s me.” He can even hear the grin Harry has on his face as he confirms it’s him calling and suddenly, Louis starts to get angry.

“Well you’ve promised me a lot of fucking things.” He spits. 

“Louis…” Harry’s taken aback and it’s clear in his voice. “I-I’m sorry, baby, I-”

“_No_,” He interrupts him. “You don’t get the right to fucking ‘_baby_’ me! You can’t just fucking ditch me to the side and only call me when it’s convenient to you. You’ve got some fucking nerve to ignore me for weeks and come at me with some ‘baby’ bullshit, Harry. It’s fucking unacceptable.”

“Louis, I get what you’re saying, I do, and-”

“No, you _don’t_,” Louis snapped. “If you did, the least you could’ve done is just tell me you’re not interested in me.”

“Louis!” Harry raises his voice, and for one, Louis shuts right up. “It’s all my fault, I know, but you need to know that I messed up when I gave you my phone number.”

“You...what?”

“I thought I gave you the right number, but then when I was walking back to the hostel, I realized I switched out some numbers and by then, you were already gone.”

“I…” Louis’ a little dumbstruck, “How did you find me then?”

“I went back to the lodge to ask for your number, but you can imagine how hard that was. Of course, they couldn’t reveal anything, and even when I came back to Holmes Chapel, I still called there every single day until they eventually gave in and gave me your number. Trust me, I wasn’t being easy on them, and explained our situation, and I’m sorry it took so long, but I finally got a hold of you, and I wanted to let you know I’m going to London tomorrow for a shoot, and I’ll be staying for a week or so, if you wanted to go out for dinner. Like a proper date.”

This is a lot for Louis to process right now. He can barely even believe Harry’s talking to him right now, after getting nothing but radio silence from him, and his mind is racing with different thoughts and feelings. 

On one hand, he wants to tell Harry to fuck off, reasonably so. But on the other, this was all just a misunderstanding, and he could just about jump on him and be held in his arms. It’s all very conflicting and, for fucks sake, Louis is in the middle of a work day. 

“I, uh…” He hesitates. “Can I call you back later? This is...a bit too much right now and I need to think some things over.”

“I’m really sorry, Lou,” Harry says. “I’ll give you all the time you need, but I really want to let you know it was never my intention to leave you hanging. I’m sorry.”

Louis bites his lower lip. A huge part of him just wanted to say everythings okay, and all is forgiven, but the truth is, Louis spent a lot of time hurting over him, and it’s not something he’s able to forgive in seconds. He needs time to think. 

“I’ll call you back,” he says. “Soon. Maybe, I don’t know.”

“I’ll wait for you,” Harry answers back. Louis can hear the hurt in his voice, but he has to stay strong. He can’t be making any mistakes anymore, not when his heart is on the line.

“Bye,” he chokes out, and doesn’t even wait for Harry before he ends the call. He leans against the wall behind him and slowly slides down until he hits the floor.

  
\----

  
Liam gives up on asking Louis what the rush is, and Niall is more than happy to meet up for a lunch break away from his horrible boss, so the three of them meet up in a local sandwich and salad cafe and sit on their usual booth.

“Hi, babe,” Niall leans in to kiss his boyfriend before sitting down beside him, in front of a very disgruntled looking Louis. “Oof, what’s wrong with you, Lou? Did Vicky get on your nerves again? I’ve told you she’s not worth getting pissed off over.”

“No, it’s not about her,” Louis frowns. “Well, she _was_ being annoying as usual today, but no. It’s not about her.”

“What happened then?” Niall asks as he grabs the menu, even though he’s going to order the same thing he has every time they eat here.

“He hasn’t told me a thing,” Liam adds. “Dragged me all the way out of my office without a word.”

“Hush, Liam,” Louis shuts him up. “Something happened today at work and I’m still fucking shaking.”

“Well?” The anticipation was clearly killing Niall. Liam, too, except he was way less vocal about it.

“Harry called me,” Louis says, and even as the words leave his mouth, he can’t quite believe it himself. His best mates look surprised, eyes wide and jaws slack, clearly not expecting this.

“He did?” Niall raises a brow, “After all this time, _now_ he decides to call you?”

Louis can already tell Niall’s got his opinion formed on the curly haired man, and it’s not too positive, despite Louis having no bad things to say about him prior to the incident. 

“He told me he gave me a wrong number by accident.”

Niall scoffs. “And you believe him?”

“I don’t…” Louis crosses his arms against his chest, and leans back on the booth. “I don’t know what to believe. He said he spent the entire week annoying the receptionists at the retreat for my number, and they finally gave in to him, and now we’re here.”

“That sounds reasonable enough,” Liam, the lovely voice of reason, speaks up. “I mean, if he’s telling the truth, then it’s worth appreciating how he did anything he could to get in touch with you. A lot of people would just give up after the first try, y’know.”

That seems to shut both of them up. It’s good timing, too; their food is served in front of them, and Louis is hoping the waitress isn’t finding their tense silence off. She doesn’t look like she cares, and lets them know to call her if they need anything else before tending to another table.

“Harry said he’s coming to London tomorrow,” Louis brings up as they dig into their food. “Says he’ll be here all week. Wanted to know if I would go on a date with him.”

Niall pauses his chicken sandwich before his mouth. “And what did you say?”

“I told him I’d think about it,” He picks up a chip. “I wanted to talk to you guys first, and really think about it before I’d say something back.”

“If you ask me,” Liam speaks up, “I think you should go for it. Sure, it was a dumb move to give you a wrong number, but it was a mistake, and you seemed really happy about him.”

“I am,” Louis smiles at the memories he had of them together at that damn abandoned cabin.

“Think about it,” he says. “But I really think you shouldn’t let this go to waste.”

“I’m not too happy about this, but I guess Liam has a point,” Niall reluctantly agrees. “Go for it, Lou. But let me know if he hurts you again so I can beat his ass.”

Louis still has a lot to think about, but it’s nice to have some outside input. By the time their meal is up and his best mates have moved on from that conversation, Louis thinks his mind is up, but he doesn’t want to make any brash decisions, so he goes back to work and takes any free second he has to think it over.

It all comes down to the same answer, and Louis hopes it’s the right decision to make.

  
\---

Later that night, when Louis is all settled on the couch to sleep, he grabs his phone and opens his messages app, punching in the name that hasn’t left his mind all day and types in a text.

_I’ll go on that date with you tomorrow - L_

He half expects not to get an answer back, and is about to lock his phone and put it away to sleep, when a grey bubble appears below his blue one.

** _Can’t wait xx -H_ **

For the first time in what felt like ages, Louis falls asleep with a smile on his face.

\----

Louis spends the next day nervous out of his mind. 

It’s weird to be texting Harry in the first place, and he’s surprised when he wakes up to a _ Good morning _ text from him. Their conversations are nothing too over small talk. A few jokes are thrown here and there, but Louis knows it’s mostly his fault with how he’s protecting himself from the inevitable downfall of their relationship, if he could even call it one. Harry’s most likely aware he’s on thin ice, and it’s safer to keep things light and easy for now.

Work has been pretty uneventful for Louis. Nothing out of the ordinary happens; he works on writing up articles and thinks of ways to stay sane when fucking Vicky opens her goddamn mouth, so it’s a pretty normal day. Except for the jitters he feels all day long, because of Harry.

He’s texting Louis throughout the day, letting him know he’s arrived in London, and is setting up for an engagement photoshoot, with a baby shoot right after. Louis lets his guard slip to complain about his annoying co-workers, earning three laughing face emojis back. 

Liam even teases Louis during their lunch break for having his face glued to his phone. Louis throws a chip at him, but Liams’ reflexes have improved significantly, and he manages to catch the chip with his mouth instead of getting hit on the nose. He doesn’t know what annoys him more; the way he missed Liams’ nose, or the smug look on his face. He throws another chip, and this time, Liam doesn’t catch it, so Louis decides it’s the latter.

At some point during the day, Harry lets Louis know about what time he should be ready for their date. The one Louis agreed to. 

_Where are we going?_ Louis had texted. _I need to know what my outfit calls for._

** _That’s a secret for me to know and you to find out ;) _ **

Louis had rolled his eyes because, of course, Harry was being secretive about it. He refused to admit he liked the mystery of it all, though. 

** _Casual, but you look nice in anything. xx_ **

Harry’s only seen him in his select few winter garments or naked, so he might not be the best judge for what Louis looks good in, but he’s not about to deny himself from a compliment. He allows himself a smile.

——

  
Hours passed by, and it’s suddenly seven in the afternoon. Louis is in Nialls’ room, trying on different outfits, putting them on before deciding he doesn't look good enough and throwing them wherever they landed. This went on for a long while, the cycle continuously repeating itself.

He doesn’t know why he cares so much; he’s not usually like this at all. Sure, he likes to put effort into his appearance to look good, but he can’t remember the last time he scoured through his wardrobe (and Nialls’) in search for a perfect outfit. 

He even goes as far as to make up a sort of a fashion show for his best mates to judge on how good he looks. As in, Louis would interrupt their movie to come out with a different outfit every five seconds, asking if he looks decent enough for his date. He soon realizes it’s pointless, considering they like anything Louis comes out with. Shit audience, really.

Louis is putting on a long sleeved dark red sweater he’s sure Niall stole from him and checking how his bum looks in his black jeans that show off his ankles when he hears the unmistakable sound of someone ringing the doorbell.

_Fuck, is it seven already?_

“Coming!” he yells from the couples room as he pulls the hem of his sweater down and quickly runs his hand through his fringe he spent an embarrassing amount of time in front of the mirror fixing perfectly. 

“Oh, hello,” he hears Niall say before he even makes it out of the room. Fuck, he’s in trouble. “You must be Harry.”

Louis walks into the room and he curses inwardly as he sees Niall and Liam standing in front of Harry, sizing him up and making the curly haired man look slightly uncomfortable. In any other case, he’d be laughing with how Harry, in all his height, is intimidated by Niall. But he’s not in the mood right now to have his friends scare him off, and he knows the Irish could get quite terrifying when he wanted to. 

It’s weird to see Harry standing in their living room. Up until this point, he wasn’t sure if Harry was just a figment of his imagination, and was pretty sure Niall and Liam were borderline starting to doubt his existence. But there he was, in tight black skinny jeans and a grey sweater, drowned by a brown coat that would probably look enormous on Louis. He’s wearing brown heeled boots and he’s impressed with how good Harry looks in such a casual outfit. 

“Louis,” Harry smiles as he sees the smaller man walk into the room. His green eyes drag down Louis’ body and his grin turns wider. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks,” he blushes and tries to ignore Niall and Liams’ eyes on him, and their presence in the room.

“Oh, I brought flowers for you,” he raises them for Louis to hold. Louis’ brows raise, as he takes the colourful bouquet and sniffs their wonderful flowery scent in.

“Wasn’t sure which ones you liked, so I picked the prettiest ones that reminded me of you,” he explains as Louis delicately rakes his fingers through the assortment of sunflowers, tulips and red carnations. Louis tries not to think too much about the meaning of each flower, but it’s hard when his mum had her own little garden and used to tell Louis all about what they symbolized.

It can’t be a coincidence that they all somehow symbolize love and adoration. 

He can tell Harry’s nervous as he looks over the flowers, and it's cute. The moment, however, is ruined when Liam decides it’s a good idea to coo at them. 

“Thanks,” He sends a glare at his best mate before turning to smile at Harry. “I’ll grab a vase.” 

It's a terrible idea to leave him alone with his best mates, so he tries to be quick about finding a vase that’ll fit the stems. The only one he comes across is rather ugly and cracked at the side, but it’ll suffice for now. As Louis fills it up with water, he makes a note to change it when he gets back home.

“Okay, I’m all ready,” Louis grabs his coat. Harry looks like he needs to be saved from the interrogation he knows Niall’s giving him, and he looks relieved when Louis has got his coat on and is ready to go. 

“I’ll be back soon,” he hugs his best friends goodbye.

“We won’t wait up,” Liam wiggles his brows, and Louis wishes he had something in his hands to smack him with. He’ll have to wait. It’s better when Liam’s least expecting it too.

  
——

The date, so far, has been fine. Great, even.

Louis isn’t sure how Harry managed to remember this tiny detail, but he brings them to Louis’ favorite pizza parlor. It’s a tiny little restaurant, if one could call it that, and it’s been Louis’ favorite place ever since stumbling upon it during a very drunk adventure with Niall and Liam, before they even started dating. 

“Can’t wait to try this place,” Harry smiles. “You’ve definitely got my expectations up.”

It’s a sweet gesture, and Louis starts to feel bad for shoving his hands in his coat pockets rather than locking his fingers with Harrys’ larger ones. Neither brought it up; Harry simply put his hand out as soon as they were outside of the flat, and Louis pretended not to notice. He didn’t mean to hurt Harry’s feelings, he just didn’t want to be bringing any false expectations to either of them, which is fair, and Harry seems to understand. He puts his hands in his pockets, too, and they walk side by side to whatever secret destination Harry had in mind.

They order a pizza to share, _a large hawaiian with extra cheese, please_ and it’s funny how they’re the only two people in this world to appreciate fruit on pizza.

“It’s refreshing and delicious and anyone who disagrees is a coward,” Louis remarks, and Harry doesn’t hesitate to agree.

The conversation isn’t half as awkward as Louis envisioned. In fact, talking to Harry is just as easy as he remembers it being. Obviously, there’s a huge elephant in the room that neither of them want to acknowledge, for now, so they mostly stick to easy conversation with funny little anecdotes in between, and it feels exactly like how they left off. They even joke about how it’s nice they’re not freezing anymore.

When they’re done with their pizza, Louis’ stomach hurts from how much he laughs at Harrys’ newborn baby photoshoot, when the couple let Harry pick their baby up the exact time it decided to take a huge shit. 

“It’s what babies do,” Harry shrugs off with a smile, but the thought of Harry with baby poo all over his arm is _hilarious_ to him and his giggles don’t die down until at least ten minutes after.

After they’re done with dinner and Harry generously pays the check (_“I think I owe you this one, and I was the one inviting you for a date.”_), neither of them want their date to end just yet. It’s a good thing Harry had another location in mind.

This time, Louis allows Harry to hold his hand. He knows Harry’s smiling at him, and it’s hard not to smile himself when Harrys’ much larger and warmer hand wraps around his own. It’s nice, and it feels natural for them to be walking like this. 

Harry ends up taking them to a park Louis has walked past way too many times, but can’t remember the last time he stepped inside. It’s empty, save for the random people walking their dogs. It’s different to come across this park when the sun isn’t up. Somehow, it feels more intimate and personal. It might be because Harry’s right next to him that intensifies that feeling, but it’s there and stays with them.

They sit down on a bench near the pond, thighs pressing close together, Harrys’ arm resting behind Louis’ shoulders. His fingers softly graze Louis’ shoulders as they talk, and Louis chases the touch more times than not. Harry doesn’t comment on it, and it’s better if he doesn’t.

It can only take so long for their conversation to be just light and easy. It’s not like they run out of things to say; it’s the comfortable silence of the night that falls over them as Harry’s fingers gently rest at the top of Louis’ shoulders.

“I think we should talk about it,” Louis ends up saying.

“Yeah,” Harry agrees, his eyes moving from the still pond to Louis. “We should.”

“I know it was my mistake,” Harry starts after a beat of silence, “and I should’ve checked if I gave you the right number. It was never my intention to make you upset or think I didn’t care about you at all.”

“It did make me feel like shit,” Louis discloses. “I was out of a shitty relationship when I met you, and to not hear from you after what we had together took a toll on me. All those thoughts and feelings I had when things with Keegan ended came back and it wasn’t good for me. I ended up picking myself back up, though, which is probably why I blew up when you called me.”

“I’m really sorry, Lou,” Harry says. “I know how much that jerk hurt you and believe me, I’d never want to make you feel horrible about yourself. I’m glad you got yourself back together, and I get why you were furious at me. I’d be too, honestly, but you hardly gave me a chance to explain myself.”

Louis is embarrassed. He’d been so caught up in his own feelings, he hardly even took into consideration how Harry must’ve felt. It really was just a stupid little mistake and, granted, Louis didn’t know it at the time, so his defenses were up.

“I’m sorry, too,” he says. “I...I should’ve been more rational about it, too.”

Harry smiles. “I appreciate it, but I also know your reasons, so even if it wasn’t okay, I do forgive you.”

“And I want you to know that I like you, a lot. I never stopped.”

Louis’ stomach flutters at Harrys’ confession. 

“I like you too,” He says back. “And that’s why it hurt so much to not hear from you.”

Harry pulls his arm around Louis, making the smaller one lean his head against Harrys’ shoulder. He drops a kiss on top of Louis’ head, and it’s a relief to have this conversation over and done with. 

“That won’t happen again,” Harry promises, and Louis knows it’s a promise both of them intend to keep.

  
\---

  
After hanging out at the park, Louis starts to get tired, and Harry decides it’s a good time to end their date. They walk together back to Louis’ home, hand in hand, and the weight Louis had on his shoulders is no longer there.

They arrive at the front of Niall and Liams’ flat, and stand there in front of the front door, laughter dying down from what they were joking about. Right now, they’re standing close to each other and their eyes speak louder than words. 

Harry squeezes Louis’ hands in his own.

“Louis, can I kiss you?” He asks. He’s already stepping closer to the smaller one, expecting but one answer, but he stops when Louis puts a hand on his chest.

“Not tonight,” He shakes his head. “I, uh, know we’ve fucked, twice, before but if you’re serious about this, I think it’s best if we take it slow? Get to know each other better first?”

“I’m very serious about it. I mean,” Harry says, “I’m more than happy to take things slow with you. Does this mean you want to go on more dates with me?”

Louis smiles and wraps his arms around Harrys’ broad shoulders in a hug.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he pats Harrys’ chest before he opens the front door. Harry’s stunned in the same spot with a goofy smile on his face. “Text me when you get to your hotel.”

Harry blinks awake, so it seems. “I will. Sleep tight, Lou.”

“You too,” he says. Fighting the urge to go outside and smack his lips against Harrys’ is too much, but he stops himself and watches as Harry turns around to go back to his hotel room. Harry looks back, and shoots Louis a wink.

If Louis ends up a giggling mess, that’s only for him to know.

  
\---

  
“So, how was the date?” Nialls asks the following morning. Turns out, the couple didn’t wait up for Louis like he expected. They were already snoring by the time Louis got into the flat, the latter not even realizing how late it actually was. 

“It was alright,” Louis shrugs, which the three of them know is an understatement.

“Sounds like it went better than alright,” Liam counters, and Louis is honestly way too happy about how his date turned out to even consider throwing the butter at Liams’ face.

“It did,” He agrees, without even bothering to hide his stupid smile.

The couple share a look together. They’re more than happy for their best mate; they’ve been wanting Louis to be happy for himself and in a healthy relationship for quite a while, even during his relationship with his ex, and they’re glad he’s giving Harry another well deserved chance.

  
\-----

  
For the rest of the week that Harry’s in London, he and Louis spend as much time together as they can. It’s either quick lunch dates, or late afternoon snacks, and Harry even offers to make dinner for Louis and his best mates. The four of them get on really well, and Liam even ends up asking Harry for some healthier recipes after one bite of what Harry brought to the table.

And even when their schedules didn’t coincide, they were always texting each other whenever they could. Louis was sure Harry had to turn his phone off during his shoots, or else he wouldn’t get his job done. 

Their relationship feels comfortable. Louis likes how he gets to learn more and more about Harry without putting all the physical aspects in the mix. He definitely misses the way Harry would kiss him, touch him, fuck him, and he catches himself thinking about these things more often than not, but Louis feels like it’s important for both of them to take a few steps back and work on their friendship first, rather than throw themselves headfirst in to an impulsive relationship, despite already having been intimate with each other and getting a good grasp of who they are.

The slap on Louis’ ass while Harry was cooking dinner for them doesn’t count, but it’s a nice reminder of how easy it is to be around him.

Eventually, and reluctantly, Harry has to leave and go back home. Neither of them wants him to leave, and Niall and Liam aren’t quiet about their reluctance either, but it’s not something Harry can hold off. It’s a three hour car ride back home, and it’s better to go now before traffic gets to be too much.

Harry makes a stop at Liam and Nialls’ flat before he leaves, and they chat idly before the couple takes the hint and make up an excuse to hide away in the kitchen. Louis sees right through them, and knows they’ll be peeking through the kitchen door to see what the lovebirds are up to. Louis should be used to their weirdness by now, but they still manage to surprise him, which is honestly commendable at this point in their friendship. 

“I’ll miss you,” Louis hugs Harry. He’s on his tippy toes, his arms tied around Harrys’ neck, and the taller ones arms around his waist.

“I’m just a text away,” Harry reassures him into his neck. “I’ll be back soon, I told you.”

Louis squeezes tightly once before loosening his arms and getting down to his feet, but he doesn’t take his arms off his shoulders.

“One month isn’t soon,” Louis pouts, eliciting a chuckle out of Harry.

“I’ll let you know if another shoot comes up here,” He smiles warmly at the smaller one, “or if I miss you too much.”

“I like that option,” Louis matches his smile. Neither of them can take their eyes off each other, and it’s reached the point where they’re nervously giggling together. If Louis pays attention, he could’ve sworn he heard his best mates giggling in the kitchen.

“Can I-” Harry starts.

“Do you-” Louis unintentionally interrupts and they laugh together.

“You go first.” Louis says.

Harry swallows, “I wanted to know,” his tongue peeks out to wet his lips, “if I could kiss you.”

The butterflies are back in Louis’ tummy and to be honest, maybe it’s not so bad of an idea for them to kiss. 

“I think…” Louis ponders out loud, “that maybe one little peck wouldn’t hurt.”

That’s all it takes to bring out a grin from Harry before he leans in a catches Louis’ lips on his own. The soft kiss feels better than what Louis remembered. Softer, nicer, sweeter and the gentle fluttering in his stomach turns into a tornado, even if it’s just a press of their lips. It’s notably longer than what a peck is defined as, but after so long without kissing each other and spending their time learning more about each other made this whole thing even better. It’ll probably take an army to pull them away from each other.

Turns out, it’s the giggling coming from the kitchen that makes them pull away. Louis would be about to bite their heads off, if it wasn’t for Harrys’ tight hold on him. 

“Glad I’ll be taking something back home with me.”

Louis rolls his eyes and lets his arms drop from his neck. “You’re so cheesy, God.”

“What can I say?” Harry shrugs off with a smile. “You turn me into a sap.”

More squeals come from the kitchen. Even if he doesn’t want to, Louis figures it’s time Harry goes off back to Holmes Chapel before his best mates get an aneurysm from screaming so much. 

It hurts to say goodbye, but not as much as the first time. At least now they actually have each others numbers, and Louis even made an Instagram account for Harry, and had him like all his pictures, to keep in touch. 

“Drive safely,” Louis reminds him, “and let me know when you get home.”

“Jeez, Lou,” Niall pulls Harry in for a hug, “you’re worse than all our mums combined.”

“Shut up,” Louis sticks his tongue out.

Harry laughs. “It’s cute, I don’t mind the worrying.”

“See! Someone who appreciates me.” Louis crosses his arms over his chest. Harry lets go of Niall and wraps an arm around Louis’ shoulder, pulling him in before dropping a kiss on top of his head.

Louis follows Harry out where he parked his car; an impressive black range rover, and even though it’s chilly outside, Harry doesn’t make the move to get in his car. He’s standing by it with Louis.

“Thank you for this,” Harry says. “For everything.”

“S’no problem.” Louis smiles. Harry opens his arms, and Louis doesn’t hesitate before wrapping his arms around Harrys’ waist in a hug. There’s a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest as Harrys’ arms squeeze his petite frame and neither of them show any signs of wanting to let go. 

“I’ll see you soon,” Harry assures when they eventually let go of each other. 

And Louis doesn’t step back inside until Harrys’ car is completely out of sight. 

  
——

Three months fly by in a blink. 

It’s been six months since the first time Harry came down to London, and during that time, Harry has managed to keep his promise. 

There was hardly a day where he and Louis didn’t send each other a text, even if it was just a good morning text. They frequently called each other, and even went as far as skyping whenever they could. Harry even came down here four more times, under the pretence of work. But he’d end up spending a lot more time with Louis than at the studio. He even came for Nialls’ birthday party, and he made the best birthday cake any of them ever ate, so, from now on, Harry’s presence was mandatory for the rest of the groups’ birthday parties, and any parties requiring a cake.

Harry and Louis have even been on a few weekend trips together. It’s the only time out of the week they could actually have the time to indulge in their very platonic getaways that thankfully Liam and Niall weren’t too keen on joining. Well. Niall wasn’t, and Liam might be the most oblivious puppy Louis has ever met, but even he knew he’d be third wheeling, despite Harry’s tendency to never leave anyone left out. It would’ve happened at some point, so Louis was glad he got to enjoy new sights with his very close...friend. 

Niall and Liam would tease Louis with how much time he spends on his phone talking to the curly haired lad, and even if the four of them got on well together, it was slightly annoying to not have his privacy when talking to Harry. They were just friends, but sometimes Louis felt like he couldn’t joke around when he had Niall in the other room, hearing him perfectly and teasing him right after.

It started to become less of an issue when Louis finally managed to snag the flat he wanted, and was more than happy to get it under his budget. Harry ended up surprising him and his best mates with a non-work related visit to help him settle in, and it was good to have another pair of arms to move in all the big IKEA furniture he actually helped Louis pick out. Turns out Harry’s also a pretty good with his hands, and managed to set things up without having to glance twice at the instruction manual. Louis couldn’t say the same, having given up on building a chair on step two.

But if Louis thought moving out would mean more privacy, he was wrong. Liam and Niall seemed to show up at his flat whenever they saw fit, and it had already resulted in far too many walk ins of Louis completely naked. His best mates didn’t seem to be fazed about it, though. They were already used to Louis’ impeccable birthday suit, but that didn’t make Louis’ yelps lessen.

Today was no exception. Louis was sitting on his couch with the television playing in the background, working on an article that he may or may not have gotten behind on because of one certain curly haired idiot. He was halfway through typing up about a celebrities' new movie premiere when he heard his front door shut. 

“Hey, Lou,” Niall greets as he makes his way to raid Louis’ kitchen. Louis hums back an absentmindedly ‘_hey_’ back. It’s not that often that he gets to cover articles that isn’t just stupid gossip that isn’t even true half of the time. He hates doing that, and always tries to keep it as biased as he can without being plain rude, so he’s happy with writing something he’s actually interested about. 

Niall plops himself down beside Louis, popping open a can of beer with a bag of chips in hand. He puts his feet up on Louis’ ottoman and takes a peek at Louis’ laptop.

“Writing another article?” He asks before slurping his beer.

“Yep,” Louis answers without taking his eyes off the screen. “The remote is around here somewhere. You can change the channel if you want, I’m still pretty behind.”

Niall grabs the remote and starts to click through different channels. “Maybe if you didn’t spend the entire day talking to a certain someone.”

At this, Louis stops typing and opens his mouth to argue back, before deciding he’s not really in the mood to argue with Niall.

“So…” Niall smirks after the beat of silence. “How’s your boyfriend, then?”

Louis scoffs. “Harry isn't my boyfriend.”

“Funny,” The Irish muses, “I never mentioned a name. Is there something you need to tell me?”

“Haha,” Louis deadpans. “Harry, my _friend_, is doing alright, thanks.”

“Friend, huh?” Louis shoots him a glare, making Niall snicker behind his can and raise a hand in defeat.

“Alright, alright. No need to get your claws out, kitten.”

For the sake of his sanity, Louis ignores his dumb best mate. Thankfully, he doesn’t press on the subject any longer. There’s a boring golf tournament playing on Louis’ TV, but it’s entertaining enough for Niall to get off his ass for an hour and a half. By then, Louis had already finished his article and sent it to his editor, but he figured a distracted Niall is better than an interrogation.

“Don’t you think it's been long enough?” Niall suddenly asks. He must’ve noticed Louis lurking on his favorite travel blog website and probably thought it was a good time to bring up the same nagging subject.

“Like, do you think you’re ready to take the next step with him?”

Louis sighs, like he does every time this gets brought up. “Niall…”

“You know I’m only asking because I care about you and your well-being.” 

“I don’t…” Louis stutters, “I don’t know.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about how Harry feels about you,” Niall points out. “He’s obviously in love with you, and if you allow yourself to feel, I doubt you’re that far off.”

Louis bites his lower lip, closing his laptop off and putting it on top of his coffee table with a sigh.

“It’s not him I’m worried about…” He confesses. “I just...I’m scared, Niall. I’m scared I’ll fall for him, _really_ fall for him, and it’s gonna end up exactly how it did with Keegan.”

“But Harry isn’t Keegan,” He reminds him. “He’s way better than that twat could ever be, and you know it. Even your fights with Harry don’t compare to how horrible they were with Keegan.”

Louis sighs. He hates having this conversation. It always ends up with his own insecurities being under the light, and he hates being exposed like this. 

It’s not like Louis hasn’t noticed how...couple-y they act, even when they’re not together. It happens without either of them noticing, but it's impossible to not have moments when his mind wanders to what he and Harry could have together.

For fucks sake, they’re always talking to each other, they cuddle as often as they can, and Harry likes dropping sweet little kisses on Louis’ head. Not to mention how they had sex not even a year ago.

It’s weird when Louis has it thrown back to his face, how even though Harry respects every single boundary he’s put down, they can’t help but act like a couple. In fact, Louis is sure the only thing that’s missing are the labels. It’s been six months since the last time they’ve kissed, and neither of them brought the topic of ‘boyfriends’ up, despite the plethora of opportunities they could’ve had a grown up conversation about. 

Hell, Louis isn’t even sure if Harry’s seeing anyone else, and he can’t lie and say it wouldn’t hurt if he was. How they’ve managed to not mention new relationships throughout all their friendship goes beyond him. The only thing that gets remotely close is brief mentions of Louis getting hit on at work, and that one blonde barista that keeps flirting with Harry. They take it lightly and move on to other subjects when their jokes become too heavy and real.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Niall attests. “But this is Harry we’re talking about. He really likes you, Lou. Just have a conversation with him, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Louis doesn’t want to have this talk anymore, so he grabs the remote and changes it to something else that’ll entertain the both of them. Love Island is on, and making fun of the cast always helps to take their mind off of things. 

But unlike Niall, Louis isn’t as easily distracted by the show and their jokes. His mind keeps going back to the curly haired man and all the possibilities that their futures hold.

  
\----

  
The next time Harry comes down for a work related visit, he made plans to crash on Louis’ couch for the week. 

He’s actually pretty surprised with how quick Louis is to invite him over, considering how weird he’s been with him for the past week or so. At first, he thought he was just overthinking the dry  
text messages, but then the phone calls started to get a weird, rushed vibe to them, and when Louis looked anxious and uncomfortable on a Skype call, that's when Harry knew something was up. 

Of course, Louis always insisted he was fine, but Harry was certain he could differentiate Louis’ moods by now, and saw right through his act. It’s perfect timing that Harry gets hired for a gig in London again, and despite not getting paid much for this specific job, it’s the perfect excuse to see what was bothering him so much. Harry would hate if he had something to do with it.

So he gets to Louis’ flat and hugs him when the smaller one opens the door. So far, everything is alright. Harry arrives pretty late, the traffic was horrible for a Saturday night, but he’s here now and Louis actually looks happy to see him. Maybe he’s not the problem after all.

The flat is more decorated than what Harry remembered. There’s more pictures hanging on the walls, pictures he and Louis took together, but mostly Harrys’. He’s surprised to see some plants lying around, too, considering Louis turned Harrys’ suggestion down to be a plant mom, calling him a hippy.

“It looks more like your house than mine,” Louis comments as Harry looks around.

Harry smirks, “That’s because I have impeccable taste.” 

“That’s debatable.”

The pizza they order doesn’t take long to arrive, and neither does deciding what movie to watch. Four Weddings and a Funeral is on, mostly because of Louis’ weird obsession with Hugh Grant, and the movie has barely even started before Harry puts an arm around Louis.

He’s done this a million times before, and Louis has never had any complaints. He would usually fall right into him, and they would stay in a warm snuggle for hours on end, so it’s natural at this point for Harry to put an arm over his shoulder. 

Tonight, Harry’s subconsciously expecting the same thing. It’s only natural, and almost automatic at this point, so when Louis forcibly ignores it and even pushes himself away from the taller one, it’s enough to confirm Harrys’ suspicions.

“Okay, Louis,” He cuts off, putting his slice of half eaten pizza down. Louis glances at him, already looking nervous and uncomfortable, even more so. “Somethings clearly bothering you and it’s not gonna help itself if you don’t talk about it.”

“I’m fine,” He scoffs. 

“You’re not, Louis,” Harry insists. “What’s wrong? You know you can trust me, right?”

Louis blinks at him, watching the furrow of his brows and the clech of his jaw, and he sighs. He knows it’s a lost war and fighting it would be pointless, now. He can’t keep his thoughts to himself anymore, and he’s apparently not that discreet in the first place, anyways.

“I just...I don't know where we stand.” Louis confesses. It’s weird to say it out loud when it’s been an issue stuck in his head for a while now. 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Like…” Louis nervously fiddles with his nails. “I know we’re friends, and I know I was the one establishing our boundaries, but it’s obvious we act like more of a couple than fucking Liam and Niall are and I'm just...scared, to be honest.”

“What are you scared of?” Harry calmly asks. His heart is thumping hard against his chest, and he can’t even imagine how Louis must feel inside. He’s nervous, he definitely looks it, and Harry wants to do what he can to take that pressure off. So he listens calmly.

Louis is hesitant. He keeps opening and closing his mouth, not sure what to say, and he can’t even get himself to look at Harry in the eye. It’s too much for him. Harry grabs his wrist, making Louis look up at him, and lets their hands tangle together. He squeezes them reassuringly, and it’s the encouragement Louis needs.

“I’m scared of you leaving me,” He confesses. “I'm scared you’ll treat me like shit and break me to pieces. I’m fucking terrified.”

It’s all out now. In a way, it feels almost liberating. The cat’s out of the bag, but the reality sinks in deeper, and Louis is stuck feeling small and vulnerable under Harry’s eyes.

“Louis,” Harry says, “Have I ever given you any reason to think I'd do that to you?”

“I- no…” He stutters. His heart pounds faster inside his throat, almost overpowering his sense of hearing. There’s tears threatening to release from his eyes and he doesn’t want to let them out.

“Because I won’t,” He squeezes Louis’ hands. “I know you’ve been through a lot, and I don’t want to pressure you into anything you’re not comfortable with, even if it means a relationship with me.”

“Harry…”

“I’ve waited, Louis,” Harry softly smiles, “and I’d wait forever if it meant I had you in the end.”

This time, Louis can’t contain his tears anymore. A tear slips down his cheek before another one does, and he’s throwing his arms around Harry. It’s a comforting hug, one gladly reciprocated and exactly what both of them needed. 

“I’m ready when you are,” Harry assures him. That’s all Louis needed to hear.

  
\-----

  
Louis left to his bedroom for sleep an hour ago, and Harry hasn’t had much luck. He’s taken the couch, and it’s honestly one of the most comfortable couches he’s ever sat on, let alone slept on, but right now, he’s tossing and turning and can’t shut his mind up.

He keeps thinking about the man a room away from him and what went down tonight. He keeps thinking their conversation over, reciting every word spoken in his head. Above everything, though, he’s glad Louis trusted him enough to come clean about his feelings. It’s obvious it’s been an inner struggle Louis has been dealing with by himself, and Harry’s glad he got the courage to speak up and actually get some answers he needed. 

Harrys’ thoughts are interrupted when he hears feet against the hardwood floor. He cranes his neck to look up to see Louis walk into the living room in an oversized t-shirt, one that looks strangely familiar.

“Hey,” Louis tiredly croaks. He groggily slides his feet across the living room and straddles Harry over the sheets. It’s a move that takes Harry by surprise, but one he doesn’t find himself minding at all.

“Hey, yourself,” Harry smiles as Louis gets comfortable over his hips. His hands subconsciously move to grasp the outside of Louis’ thighs. But as Harry realizes he’s probably pushing his boundaries (even with Louis sitting dangerously close to his cock), he takes his hands away. Louis, despite looking terribly sleepy, takes a hold of the taller ones wrists and places them back where they were. Harry raises a brow at this, and Louis decides not to comment on it.

“I’m ready,” Louis says. If Harry were drinking something, he’d most likely be spitting it out in surprise. He squeezes Louis’ thighs as a grin makes its way on his face, Louis sharing a soft smile.

“Louis Tomlinson,” Harry grins. “Will you do me the honour of being my boyfriend?”

This time, Louis grins and places his hands on Harrys’ cheeks before leaning down. Harry tilts his chin up. Right before they capture their lips together, Louis stops.

“I’d love to.”

Louis closes the short distance between them, and the fireworks erupt.

  
\----

  
Niall sends Louis a minute long audio of him screaming after he breaks the news the next day, and that’s the perfect representation of how Louis feels about his boyfriend. 

  
—

  
It’s funny how a lot of things can change in a year.

For one, Louis was never much of an early riser. He wouldn’t necessarily sleep in ‘til noon, but anything before ten in the morning was considered tortute to him. Since starting to date Harry, they’ve been travelling together more frequently, and Louis has gotten used to waking up at piss hour in the morning for flights, check ins, buses, all that fun stuff involved. It’s a lot more tolerable when Harry’s waking him up with a million kisses, and there’s an adventure planned ahead.

Which leads to other major changes in Louis’ life. 

He’s finally started his own travelling blog. It’s only been a dream of his for his entire life, and he follows through a month or so after Harry moves in with him. Harry didn’t have much in his hometown, and he gets a lot more business done in London, so after Louis finds out he’s been purposely only taking in jobs that would bring him down here just to see him, (which is adorable, mind you), they come to the decision that moving in together was their next step in their relationship.

Harry already had most of his belongings with Louis, anyways, so it wasn’t that hard of a decision to make. It’s different than the long distance relationship they’ve had more most of their time knowing each other, but it’s considerably better. Nothing beats waking up to Harrys’ messy curls and getting his ass eaten out whenever he wants to. It’s so much better, in every single aspect.

Harry knows about Louis’ passion for travelling and posting about it, mostly from his following on social media and from catching him on the same blogs and videos for hours. It’s during their trip to Barcelona that Harry brings it up and Louis, despite being slightly embarrassed of being caught in his little obsession, is ecstatic that Harry’s supportive of him and would be more than happy to be a team on it. 

He’s nervous to actually put his dreams out to the world, at the start, but Harry’s right by his side, as his boyfriend and partner along the rocky way, and together, they start to merge their hobbies and interests together in one.

Even though Louis wishes he could be a full time travel blogger, he refuses to rely completely on Harry and his secure bank account. He’s still working at the gossip magazine firm and managed to be promoted to an editor. It’s much better for him, the pay increases and he doesn’t have to spend as much time in the office as long as he does his job, so whenever Harry goes off wherever his job, or own pursuit, desires, Louis manages to tag along a lot more than he used to at the start of their relationship.

It’s his goal to make it a full time thing, but for now, he’s happy.

“Morning, babe,” Harry drops a kiss on top of Louis’ head behind the couch. “What’re you up to?”

Louis is typing away on his laptop when Harry plops himself down beside him, holding out a fresh mug of tea for his boyfriend. Louis stops typing to grab the handle and closes his eyes as he takes the first refreshing sip of the day.

“Just making a blog post about our trip to Eroda,” Louis hums.

“Looking good, babe,” Harry peeks at the screen. 

It’s insane how they’ve managed to collect over a thousand active followers on their page. It’s not that much compared to bigger accounts, but considering they’ve only started a handful of months ago, it’s definitely something to be proud of. The beautiful pictures Harry takes alongside Louis’ writing and social skills made their blogs what they are today, and Louis is so glad he found someone who shares the same passions as him and who’s always there for him no matter what.

Harry also posts when he’s not with Louis, and likes to slide in a few horrible puns and dad jokes without having Louis rolling his eyes beside him, but everyone seems to enjoy them, so it’s all good and Louis lets it slide. He loves the puns, but Harry’s ego is already too inflated to get a chuckle every time.

Louis is in the middle of uploading his favorite pictures from their trip that Harry edited, and Harry’s pulling an arm around his shoulder, cuddling him for warmth in this cold winter morning, dropping a wet kiss on his cheek.

“Yuck,” Louis fake gags. “You’re worse than my mum's dog.”

“You love it, Lou,” Harry grins. And yes, Louis does love every single bit about Harry, even his goofiness and how grumpy he gets when Louis takes forever to get his hair perfectly done. “I love you.”

“Hey, guys! Louis here…” He starts to write. 

“I love you, too, goofball.” He smiles. 

“That’s more like it.” Louis rolls his eyes and types away about their trip together and the funny bits he’s been dying to update about, but had to hold back until today.

Louis’ happy, and he’s glad he’s got Harry to keep him warm. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this! Find me on tumblr and twitter on @/youreyesonlarry for more updates on new fics, drawings and bl content! :)


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